MUCH ADO ABOUT MCCAIN’S MELANOMA
I can say this because I’ve been there and done that. So has John McCain. But the press thinks it is this huge deal. It is and it isn’t. Michael Cooper, author of this hit piece, is obviously not really all that aware of melanoma. He should have contacted a melanoma survivor. We could have given him all the information he needs to know.
“…The melanoma removed in 2000 was Stage IIa on a standard classification that makes Stage IV the most serious. For Stage IIa melanoma, the survival rate 10 years after diagnosis is about 65 percent. But the outlook is much better for patients like McCain, who have already survived more than seven years.
For patients with a melanoma like McCain's who remained free of the disease for the first five years after diagnosis, the probability of recurrence during the next five years was 14 percent and death 9 percent, a study published in 1992 found.
No spread has been detected in the three or four dermatologic checkups McCain has undergone each year since 2000, stress tests show no evidence of heart disease and "his doctors consider him in very good health," his campaign staff said in a recent statement. Even if the melanoma returns, McCain would not be the first sitting president to have had cancer. From what information he has disclosed, he is at increased risk for melanoma and other skin cancers because of his medical history, fair skin and prolonged sun exposure at a young age - long before the wide use of sunscreen.
McCain has had four melanomas. In 1993, he waited more than six months before seeking care after a navy doctor recommended that he consult a dermatologist for a lesion on his left shoulder that turned out to be his first melanoma. It was excised and has not recurred. Pathology tests showed that the two other melanomas - detected on his upper left arm in 2000 and on his nose in 2002 - were of the least dangerous kind, in situ. In that type the malignant cells are confined to the outer layer of skin. The most serious melanoma was spotted on his temple in 2000 by the attending physician at the U.S. Capitol after it had escaped the eye of McCain's personal physician at Mayo Clinic Scottsdale, in Arizona….”
For patients with a melanoma like McCain's who remained free of the disease for the first five years after diagnosis, the probability of recurrence during the next five years was 14 percent and death 9 percent, a study published in 1992 found.
No spread has been detected in the three or four dermatologic checkups McCain has undergone each year since 2000, stress tests show no evidence of heart disease and "his doctors consider him in very good health," his campaign staff said in a recent statement. Even if the melanoma returns, McCain would not be the first sitting president to have had cancer. From what information he has disclosed, he is at increased risk for melanoma and other skin cancers because of his medical history, fair skin and prolonged sun exposure at a young age - long before the wide use of sunscreen.
McCain has had four melanomas. In 1993, he waited more than six months before seeking care after a navy doctor recommended that he consult a dermatologist for a lesion on his left shoulder that turned out to be his first melanoma. It was excised and has not recurred. Pathology tests showed that the two other melanomas - detected on his upper left arm in 2000 and on his nose in 2002 - were of the least dangerous kind, in situ. In that type the malignant cells are confined to the outer layer of skin. The most serious melanoma was spotted on his temple in 2000 by the attending physician at the U.S. Capitol after it had escaped the eye of McCain's personal physician at Mayo Clinic Scottsdale, in Arizona….”
Melanoma is the most curable and treatable of all the severely deadly cancers. In its early stages from Insitu up to about IIa or so, all that is needed is a proper wide excision, taking care not to cut into the cancerous region. Afterward, if it is a properly diagnosed early melanoma (always have 2 independent pathologists examine the removed melanoma) you basically need a full set of body scans and tests to determine that nothing has spread (I would recommend this from II on). It is unnecessary to do this for an insitu or Stage I. If you come out clean, then just do full body check-ups with a dermatologist who knows what they are doing, every six months for the rest of your life. The cost is about $50 where I go in Roswell (sometime this week, actually). It is the most inexpensive way to prevent a deadly cancer.
Frankly, if you are diagnosed as a late Stage III or IV, my recommendation, party like there is no tomorrow, because there isn’t – except….. There is a cure for melanoma. It has yet to be released to the general public. I know of a late Stage IV who has survived now for nearly 15 years. As with other actual cures, the lab testing the cure and the pharm company who is working with it has yet to receive FDA approval. In order to stay clean one must have a yearly vaccination, which I would readily do. Every person in the test group this person was in has survived as long as has he. IT IS A CURE
There is a cure for melanoma and it has yet to be released. Thousands upon thousands of people have died because of red tape. Frankly, I truly want someone elected POTUS who has had melanoma. Maybe we may just get that cure sooner than later.
The reason – everyone who has been diagnosed with melanoma, or nearly everyone (myself included – I caught mine early) within a few years of their first primary will have a second primary, and maybe a third. This is the case with John McCain. There is nothing unusual with what has happened with him. Nothing unusual at all.
Markers for melanoma include fair skin, blue or green eyes and red or blond hair. If you have skin that burns - don't even think about tanning. (How it got me). BUT if you are African American, check your fingernails. If you have moles under your fingernails, or some discoloration, run, don't walk to the dermatologist and demand to be checked for melanoma. This is one place where ignorance and passive racial profiling (medical) can kill you.
Untreated melanoma turns into either bone or brain cancer. Many brain cancers with no actual tumors are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed melanomas. If you have a mole that is melanoma and you do not have it removed by wide excision (never ever punch or scrape) YOU WILL DIE.
Trackposted to Debbie Lee on A NEWT ONE!, Rosemary's Thoughts, Right Truth, DragonLady's World, The World According to Carl, Pirate's Cove, Leaning Straight Up, , Stageleft, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
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