to take interfuron or not

I would suggest that you type:   "Interferon or not" in the upper right hand corner where you will find "SEARCH MRF" and

several postings will appear on this topic.    What you will not find is the answer specific to you.    Many of us have had to make a choice, a decision, go with it, own it, and not look back.    Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a correct, general, answer to this choice.   Many have done interferon, many have opted not to do it.

For me, seven years ago I was diagosed, Stage III, 2 nodes micro-involvement, and I chose "observation" in a study, that

monitored my lymph nodes via ultrasound.   Seven months after my excision, I had a total lymph node removal(left axilla)and there was no evidence of disease in the leftover nodes.   At both times, interferon was discussed, but I did not choose to do the treatment.    Three years later, after little sattelite recurrences, very small dots, over a 6-month period, I had further surgery and had a mastectomy(in '08).   Still here!!

Good luck to you.   Do that search and read other folks comments.   BTW, I am 63 yrs old now, began this at age 55.  If I was 30 would I have chosen to do interferon…maybe.   That's my only "if" about it for me.

CarolA 

I would suggest that you type:   "Interferon or not" in the upper right hand corner where you will find "SEARCH MRF" and

several postings will appear on this topic.    What you will not find is the answer specific to you.    Many of us have had to make a choice, a decision, go with it, own it, and not look back.    Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a correct, general, answer to this choice.   Many have done interferon, many have opted not to do it.

For me, seven years ago I was diagosed, Stage III, 2 nodes micro-involvement, and I chose "observation" in a study, that

monitored my lymph nodes via ultrasound.   Seven months after my excision, I had a total lymph node removal(left axilla)and there was no evidence of disease in the leftover nodes.   At both times, interferon was discussed, but I did not choose to do the treatment.    Three years later, after little sattelite recurrences, very small dots, over a 6-month period, I had further surgery and had a mastectomy(in '08).   Still here!!

Good luck to you.   Do that search and read other folks comments.   BTW, I am 63 yrs old now, began this at age 55.  If I was 30 would I have chosen to do interferon…maybe.   That's my only "if" about it for me.

CarolA 

I would suggest that you type:   "Interferon or not" in the upper right hand corner where you will find "SEARCH MRF" and

several postings will appear on this topic.    What you will not find is the answer specific to you.    Many of us have had to make a choice, a decision, go with it, own it, and not look back.    Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a correct, general, answer to this choice.   Many have done interferon, many have opted not to do it.

For me, seven years ago I was diagosed, Stage III, 2 nodes micro-involvement, and I chose "observation" in a study, that

monitored my lymph nodes via ultrasound.   Seven months after my excision, I had a total lymph node removal(left axilla)and there was no evidence of disease in the leftover nodes.   At both times, interferon was discussed, but I did not choose to do the treatment.    Three years later, after little sattelite recurrences, very small dots, over a 6-month period, I had further surgery and had a mastectomy(in '08).   Still here!!

Good luck to you.   Do that search and read other folks comments.   BTW, I am 63 yrs old now, began this at age 55.  If I was 30 would I have chosen to do interferon…maybe.   That's my only "if" about it for me.

CarolA 

JBrooks,

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis.  Interferon is a tough choice and I agonized over my decision for weeks before eventually deciding to go with interferon.  I'm about 4 months into my treatment.  The first month high-dose was rough but since then it has been tolerable.  My basic mindset going into it was that if it got too rough I would just stop.  I'm fairly young like you (43) and have two young kids so I decided I would do everything in my power to fight this beast.  A lot of what you read on the internet is pretty negative regarding the benefits of interferon.  Here's a link to a presentation from Dr. Kirkwood that talks about different treatments (couple years old now).  At around the 26min mark he talks about interferon and some of the benefits his research shows.  I know your blood clotting complicates your case but I hope you find the link informative. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EE5i8sSmyw&feature=relmfu 

Prayers go out to you and your family.  Best of luck to you.

Brian

JBrooks,

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis.  Interferon is a tough choice and I agonized over my decision for weeks before eventually deciding to go with interferon.  I'm about 4 months into my treatment.  The first month high-dose was rough but since then it has been tolerable.  My basic mindset going into it was that if it got too rough I would just stop.  I'm fairly young like you (43) and have two young kids so I decided I would do everything in my power to fight this beast.  A lot of what you read on the internet is pretty negative regarding the benefits of interferon.  Here's a link to a presentation from Dr. Kirkwood that talks about different treatments (couple years old now).  At around the 26min mark he talks about interferon and some of the benefits his research shows.  I know your blood clotting complicates your case but I hope you find the link informative. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EE5i8sSmyw&feature=relmfu 

Prayers go out to you and your family.  Best of luck to you.

Brian

JBrooks,

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis.  Interferon is a tough choice and I agonized over my decision for weeks before eventually deciding to go with interferon.  I'm about 4 months into my treatment.  The first month high-dose was rough but since then it has been tolerable.  My basic mindset going into it was that if it got too rough I would just stop.  I'm fairly young like you (43) and have two young kids so I decided I would do everything in my power to fight this beast.  A lot of what you read on the internet is pretty negative regarding the benefits of interferon.  Here's a link to a presentation from Dr. Kirkwood that talks about different treatments (couple years old now).  At around the 26min mark he talks about interferon and some of the benefits his research shows.  I know your blood clotting complicates your case but I hope you find the link informative. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EE5i8sSmyw&feature=relmfu 

Prayers go out to you and your family.  Best of luck to you.

Brian

Hi,  Just a quick note to suggest you look into Leukine as an option.  My husband was on it and stayed well until his Doctor took him off and within 4 months after last dose he progressed.

Hi,  Just a quick note to suggest you look into Leukine as an option.  My husband was on it and stayed well until his Doctor took him off and within 4 months after last dose he progressed.

Hi,  Just a quick note to suggest you look into Leukine as an option.  My husband was on it and stayed well until his Doctor took him off and within 4 months after last dose he progressed.

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis.

Whether or not to do interferon is a personal choice. I have stage III melanoma, unkown primary (no mole was ever found), with one positive node. Back in February 2011 I was given the same 3 treatment options from two melanoma centers: interferon, observation only, or clinical trial. I chose a clinical trial for a melanoma vaccine The interferon really didn't offer much of an advantage over observation only and I didn't want to deal with the side effects. I also was not comfortable doing observation only. The clinical trial seemed right for me because along with it I'd get frequent observation and a 2 out of 3 chance of getting the vaccine.

There are many on this forum who have done interferon and have not regretted it. All you need to do is search the forum, as a previous poster directed you to do. There is a lot of information here about interferon.

Are you being seen by a general oncologist or by an oncologist who specializes in melanoma? The latter may be able to offer more treatment options for you. Perhaps there's a clinical trial for which you can qualify?

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis.

Whether or not to do interferon is a personal choice. I have stage III melanoma, unkown primary (no mole was ever found), with one positive node. Back in February 2011 I was given the same 3 treatment options from two melanoma centers: interferon, observation only, or clinical trial. I chose a clinical trial for a melanoma vaccine The interferon really didn't offer much of an advantage over observation only and I didn't want to deal with the side effects. I also was not comfortable doing observation only. The clinical trial seemed right for me because along with it I'd get frequent observation and a 2 out of 3 chance of getting the vaccine.

There are many on this forum who have done interferon and have not regretted it. All you need to do is search the forum, as a previous poster directed you to do. There is a lot of information here about interferon.

Are you being seen by a general oncologist or by an oncologist who specializes in melanoma? The latter may be able to offer more treatment options for you. Perhaps there's a clinical trial for which you can qualify?

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis.

Whether or not to do interferon is a personal choice. I have stage III melanoma, unkown primary (no mole was ever found), with one positive node. Back in February 2011 I was given the same 3 treatment options from two melanoma centers: interferon, observation only, or clinical trial. I chose a clinical trial for a melanoma vaccine The interferon really didn't offer much of an advantage over observation only and I didn't want to deal with the side effects. I also was not comfortable doing observation only. The clinical trial seemed right for me because along with it I'd get frequent observation and a 2 out of 3 chance of getting the vaccine.

There are many on this forum who have done interferon and have not regretted it. All you need to do is search the forum, as a previous poster directed you to do. There is a lot of information here about interferon.

Are you being seen by a general oncologist or by an oncologist who specializes in melanoma? The latter may be able to offer more treatment options for you. Perhaps there's a clinical trial for which you can qualify?