Devorah's Story
Vancouver, B.C.
In November 2010, I was spending a day with my grandson; when I stood up to go to him, I noticed that my right leg and right arm felt abnormally weak, but these symptoms vanished quickly. The next day, my friend was driving us home from a movie, when my right leg cramped up, my right arm began to shake, and my vision briefly inverted.When I went to the hospital, they initially treated my case as a stroke; however, tests found a tumour in my brain and a tumour in my lung, so it was then assumed that I had lung cancer. I was booked in for brain surgery ten days later, after I returned from a familial obligation in St. Louis, USA. Two days into the trip I was unable to walk without support, and began to experience contractures. I flew home early, immediately admitting myself to the hospital. In the four days that passed before my surgery, my situation had degraded considerably. My tumour had burst, and I began to experience a hemorrhagic stroke; while I could still think clearly, I was unable to speak coherently. After the surgery, the pathology on my tumour came back as stage 4 melanoma. Another, smaller, tumour was discovered by my right ear, which would be treated with full-brain radiation. Between several complications and set-backs, recovery and the radiation, I was in the hospital for seven weeks.
I regained my speech after two weeks, and was able to walk with the assistance of a walker in five weeks. I couldn’t climb up the stairs and I found the smell of food repulsive, so my husband and I lived in the basement suite of our house, and I drank smoothies, until I was able to tolerate food climb stairs, four months later.
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In March 2011, the second tumour that had not been removed was found to have grown. It was removed in March 2011 with no complications. Also in 2011, I met with Dr. Klimo, who offered me the trial treatment Ipilumimab. After a pet scan and some chemotherapy, I began the trial. The rest is history! My last treatment was in June 2011, and now I have check-ups every six months and a CT scan every year, and everything has come back clear to date.