I had a thought this morning for which I’ve felt a bit guilty all
day.
As I was getting ready for work, I saw the story on television where
former President Jimmy Carter was going to share more details about his cancer
later in the day. I couldn’t recall such
an event before regarding cancer.
Usually, one announced their cancer diagnosis right away…there was no
waiting for an announcement of the specific details later. “Steven Jobs announces that he has pancreatic
cancer.” “Shannon Doherty reveals breast
cancer diagnosis.” “Jimmy Carter has….cancer to be revealed next week.”
I wondered what type of cancer he might have, and it occurred to me
that whichever cancer he has will get a real boost in awareness and publicity. I stopped short of it, but I came damned
close to wishing that President Carter would announce that he has melanoma.
All of you should know that I would never ever wish cancer, especially
melanoma on any person…not even my worst enemy.
Still, there’s always been this near desperation to have a celebrity
representative for “our” cancer. Bob Marley
has been our go-to guy…the perfect example of how melanoma can attack the young
and those with darker skin. However, we
still lacked a mainstream face, and don’t think that we didn’t search for
one. Remember how we all shared that
Hugh Jackman had skin cancer? Sure, it
was basal cell carcinoma (BCC), but it was skin cancer and a celebrity was
talking about it. We were so “happy.” And yet, none of us are really ever happy for
anyone diagnosed with cancer, even BCC.
As it turns out, Jimmy Carter did indeed announce that he has melanoma
that has metastasized to his brain and liver.
I feel awful for him and his family.
While there have been many who have survived a Stage IV melanoma
diagnosis, the survival rate is still only 15%.
Many have beaten the odds. More
have not. This includes my brother Jeff.
It was 5 years ago…almost to the day….that my brother announced that he
had Stage IV melanoma that had metastasized to his brain and lungs. I recall talking to him and he stated how he
actually felt quite healthy. He had
plans to go to work for a few months and take some time off whenever the
treatments made him feel sick. He simply
couldn’t believe he had cancer, especially cancer in his brain. Less than a month later, I visited him and he
could no longer go to work. He needed a
cane to walk. His memory and brain
functions were diminishing. He, frankly,
looked like he had cancer. Two months
after that, he was gone.
While the prognosis remains dim, President Carter has a much better
shot at survival than did my brother. He is being treated with an immunotherapy drug
called Keytruda. This and several other drugs simply didn’t
exist five years ago. Amazing research
has occurred. However, what remains
relatively low on the radar is awareness about melanoma.
The public continues to see melanoma as just another skin cancer. Just like Hugh Jackman’s BCC, many people
think that melanoma can be cut out and all that remains is a large bandage on
the nose. This is simply not the case
with melanoma. As with Mr. Carter,
melanoma can form inconspicuously on the skin and spread to other parts of the
body if it remains undetected. It can
spread to the liver, the lungs, the brain…anywhere! It can start anywhere on the skin, including
places that never see the sun. (Yes,
even “those” places). It can start in
your eyes or in your mouth. It is simply
one of the nastiest and sneakiest cancers there is. But make no mistake, no matter where it might
occur, it’s still melanoma.
One of my good friends and fellow melanoma awareness advocates (Respect the Rays) posted
the following on Facebook today:
“I really hope the media starts calling Jimmy Carter’s cancer diagnosis
what is it…melanoma. It’s not liver
cancer…or brain cancer. It’s melanoma
that has spread (metastasized) to his liver and brain.”
It’s a common misconception that melanoma in the brain is brain cancer,
or that melanoma in the lungs is lung cancer.
It’s not. It’s melanoma. Even my brother had a tough time grasping
that.
When I last saw Jeff, we were
playing cards. When he lost the game, he
joking said to me, “yeah…big deal that you beat a guy with brain cancer!” He always looked at the lighter side of life. Another time, we were discussing various
cancer awareness colors. “Black is for
melanoma, white is for lung cancer, and gray is for brain cancer! Could I have three more boring colors?” Again, I loved Jeff's humor, but the fact is, he
had only one cancer, and that was melanoma.
The same is true of President Carter.
He has melanoma. As a result, the
world might learn a little about the disease.
And despite my early morning thought, I really wish he didn’t have
it.
I wish there was no melanoma at all.
