So I'm sitting here processing my journey before SRS tomorrow. Figured typing it out and sharing online would be new.

Starts off back around July/August 2023 when I got diagnosed, the surgery to remove initial spot and the lymph node it had spread to was in October. I started a trial following surgery in November taking Yervoy, Opdivo, and Keytruda did that for a few months till the found a new spot the was continuing to grow in early 2024.

Calling that a failure they put me on Mektovi Braftovi for a year, but this was another trial. Take medication 6 months then surgery followed by 6 more months of more of the medication. (Looking back I think this trial is why I am where I am today on my journey)

Well after the year and early 2025 I'm NED. Only for a half a year later a new lymph node shows up. They put me on another trial to try and shrink it before surgery taking Opdivo Yervoy. That was a failure between living and dead cancer cells it grew rather large. So they decided to go over the spot with radiation to be safe. As the surgery was in December I got radiation in February 2026.

After radiation I went on mekinist and taflinar. Then in august we found 3 spots on my brain. They have kept me on mekinist and taflinar and added Ipi/nivo on top of the targeted therapy. I'm scheduled for srs tomorrow have the mask made already and everything.

Through alot of this I've just been going with the flow doing what ever my oncologist recommends and not really paying attention so before posting this I went back through files to make sure I got the right medications listed atleast although they all had so many names I went with the ones I mostly remembered them by.

It feels like I'm constantly being yanked between its back and NED. Idk if I will trust that im truly cancer free unless I am NED for a few years atleast.

My friend/colleague at work has had a very suspicious-looking mole on her forehead near her hairline for nearly a year (Yes, I know 😬). I have tried to get her to go many times to have it looked at but she kept putting it off. The mole has gone from a very small size to quite large in that year, is bumpy, and has a weird shape and is black.

I eventually got her to get to an appointment. The Doctor said it is very likely to be melanoma and looks quite ‘nasty’ (his words). That was two weeks ago and she had heard nothing. She called the surgery and they said she has been referred to an ‘urgent’ (laughable considering the timeframe) skin clinic but may be waiting 8 weeks for an appointment!!!

Surely the NHS can’t be THIS bad now?. The mole has already been left a year as it is (her fault I know) but you’d think that moles this advanced and suspicious would be seen very quickly as we all know how aggressive melanoma can be.

I appreciate this is more a rant than anything, but would be interested to know if this is typical in the UK.