DELAYED POST

Dave had a consultation with his Savannah oncologist on July 19th, and I'm just now summarizing it.  Sorry for the delay - we left shortly after his appointment to spend a week at the beach with our youngest grandson, and had very limited internet service.  Now we're home and I'm finally getting back to the blog.

In the Wild Dunes pool

Dave updated his oncologist with what we learned at MD Anderson, and told him we are going back in early August for further discussions, a CT scan on his lung, and potentially the Isolated Limb Perfusion (ILP).  His doctor, a very thoughtful and reflective man, was supportive of Dave's desire to learn more about options for treatment.  I do not want to name the doctor because it is possible I would incorrectly characterize his comments.  What Dave and I understood, was that his feeling was ILP may be beneficial, but on the other hand there is a good chance the surgery may have already eliminated as much melanoma as possible, and there are risks to consider regarding damage to his arm.  If Dave has 'in transit' melanoma, which has not been detected, ILP is not aggressive enough.  If he had a 'local recurrence' it may have been taken care of by the surgery and ILP could be too aggressive.  Unfortunately, there is no way to know for sure.  We are hoping the discussions with the MDA melanoma specialist and the ILP surgeon next week will help Dave make a confident decision about what to do.  He can always wait and see, with periodic monitoring.