how do you treat melanoma?

My momma is a week post-surgery and she is recovering very slowly. She has to wear a walking boot in order to protect her skin graft, and because of the location of the graft she is unable to walk so she has to get around with crutches. On the upside she got her drain removed! We got the news back on her lymph nodes and the cancer has spread; this officially makes her cancer stage III. Stage III cancer requires treatment such as chemotherapy and radiation. But because of her surgery she has to wait till she is completely healed to start treatments, so about 4-6 weeks. Momma is tough and stubborn, so this cancer shit ain't nothing to her.

Cancer requires some sort of treatment, no matter the stage or the degree of the cancer. There are many different things that can be done to help treat the progression of the cancer; some are successful, other are not. In order for you to better understand some of the treatments, here is a few descriptions of them.

Surgery: Surgery is the main part of therapy for early stage melanoma and for the resection of an isolated metastatic melanoma site. There are several different types of surgeries that are regularly performed to treat melanoma.

Clinical trials: Clinical trials are research studies to test promising new or experimental cancer treatments. There are hundreds of clinical trials happening at any given time, and most experts agree that for a late-stage diagnosis, clinical trials are the best treatment option.

 Immunotherapy: Immunotherapy is a type of systemic therapy used in the treatment of melanoma at high risk for recurrence and metastases

Targeted Therapy:  Targeted therapy is a type of therapy where drugs (or other substances) “target” the abnormal aspects of tumor cells without harming normal cells.

Chemotherapy:  Chemotherapy is a type of systemic therapy intended to destroy melanoma cells throughout the body. Chemotherapy has shown limited success in the treatment of melanoma

Early stage melanoma can often be treated with surgery alone, but more advanced cancers most likely have to have multiple treatments. Like everything else, treatments have side effects. Some of these side effects are: 

• Diarrhea
• Vitiligo (loss of pigment)
• Skin rash
• Lymphedema
• Thyroid issues
• Colitis
• Fatigue
• Nausea
• Itching
• Fever
• Constipation
• Joint pain 

Going through treatments, whether it is you or a family member or friend,  can be difficult and emotionally, mentally, and physically draining. It is essential to have a good support system to get through treatments.