I am 52 years old and I have had a lot of luck; having not met the right people at the right time, I would not be alive to tell you my story.

I am proud to say that I have survived two recurrences of malignant melanoma since my initial diagnosis at forty seven years old.

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On December 22, 2011, the doctor called me at work. I had just been promoted to the position of director. The results of a beauty spot that had been removed from my leg came back as T1a melanoma. The doctor planned to make an extended incision for 1 cm and check the sentinel ganglion.

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The pathology report came back negative for extended tissue and the sentinel ganglion; I felt very lucky. According to the surgeon, only 20% of T1a melanomas reoccur, so I was not concerned at all. I felt like this episode was an alert, a message to slow down and enjoy life. The kids were old enough now, and I was ready to make a few changes. I took three weeks off work to recover from surgery.

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On the fifth day of our cruise to the Bahamas in October 2014, I felt a big nodule in my groin area of the same leg. I knew immediately what was happening.

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The surgeon removed seventeen ganglions. Two of them were positive for melanoma, but one was over 3 cm and was extending over the capsula. I received one year of Interferon treatment, over one hundred and twenty extremely painful injections. I took nine months off work and worked under Interferon to be able to pay the bills and the extra for this expensive treatment.

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In November 2015, we were very close to the end of Interferon treatment. A PET scan showed multiple lung metastasis. My life expectancy was less than a year. However, I had the chance of being approved to be a part of a trial for a new chemo available in Quebec from September 2015 onwards.

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Currently, I have been receiving chemotherapy every second week since December 8, 2015, and will receive it for life with the help of Bristol-Myers. I have a miraculous happy ending: my scan from July 2016 shows a regression of all the lung metastasis.

Chemotherapy is demanding, the sides effects are painful, but I am alive! I am still unable to work but I am thinking of going back one day per week in the near future! I am living proof that, with the help of the latest treatments (Nivolumab/Opdivo in my case), living with Stage 4 melanoma is now possible.