The skin cancer melanoma - listening to Elisabeth (1978 - 2001)

Waving · February 2009

Yes you can get skin cancer as well as breast cancer Surprised .

A couple of days ago Vicki sent a message to all members of the Facebook group "In Memory of Elisabeth 'Lis' Lampard 02/78 - 06/01". She said in part "...Hi everyone, just a quick note to remind or inform you that it is Lis's birthday on Saturday, 7th February, she would have been 31!"

On Elisabeth's memorial page here
www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10259772108
Vicki says:
"... Lis (my sister) was 23 when she started to feel poorly; losing balance, lumps appearing, headaches, poor eye sight, nausea, vomiting to name a few problems. She kept visiting the doctor and eventually they said she had 'depression'! Approx. 6 weeks later (18/05/01) she was rushed to Trafford General and a few hours later WE were advised (as Lis was unconscious) that she had malignant melanoma (skin cancer)."

"... on the 19/06/01 (33 days later in total) she passed away whilst her mum, dad, brother and I held her hands and said goodbye......Lis was burried at Dunham Lawn Cemetery, a beautiful place".

Elisabeth's memorial page is a place to visit and read more about the medical emergency that led to her passing, see some photos of Elisabeth (so evocative of a young life), read some messages from those who knew her, and ponder on Elizabeth's life, and on what we can learn about our own lives, and about melanoma.

We may be safe from wolves in this day and age but none of us are safe from melanoma.

We can do much to minimise the risk, and by learning to recognise early signs of melanoma we can maximise our chances of successful treatment if we are unfortunate enough to get a melanoma visitation.

Two very good websites where you can learn about how to do self-examinations and how to look for signs of skin cancers including melanoma, are the website of the Skin Cancer Foundation at www.skincancer.org and MPIP (Melanoma Patients' Information Page) at www.mpip.org

You can find annotated links to a variety of other skin cancer websites here
www.bestcancersites.com/skin/

On the Skin Cancer Foundation website it says:
""Melanoma ... is especially hard to stop once it has spread (metastasized) to other parts of the body. But it can be readily treated in its earliest stages".

None of us like doing regular self-examinations because we are apprehensive about what we might find, but from what I've red, treating early stage melanoma is a walk in the park compared to treating melanoma that has spread to other parts of the body.

Elisabeth wasn't diagnosed with melanoma until it had spread beyond the stage where it could be treated. If we listen to Elisabeth, we can minimise the chances that any of our own lives will be cut short by melanoma, and give her life on Earth, so sadly ended before she could fulfil her dreams, a new mission and a new fulfillment.

saluki · February 2009

Only to add it is not just the skin to observe with Melanoma. If you have one eye that is one color and the other a different color--or two colors in one eye ---that is a marker for Ocular Melanoma---even deadlier than Melanoma of the skin.-------Who knew????? (including her Pediatrician and even her father also a Primary Care Physician) If you have that marker you should be carefully followed.

My niece was diagnosed with this at 9 years old. She complained of headaches and they did all sorts of tests. -----The Docs never knew to look at her eyes. Just said she had childhood migraine.

By the time it was diagnosed it took less than a year to spread to her liver..........And then all the experts gave her three months to live.

My sister was told by the Docs Chemo would be ineffective against the cancer----

Between alternative and experimental treatment she lived for three additional years......... A horrific Cancer

Waving · March 2009

Hi Susie,
Thank you for posting about ocular melanoma and alerting us to it. Most people would not know that melanoma can occur in the eye. I will prepare a post about it in due course for Elisabeth's memorial page and for several other relevant places on the internet.

That is very sad about your niece. As you say, who would have known to examine the eye for melanoma as a possible cause of a child's headaches.

On the American Cancer Society website http://www.cancer.org it says:
"When melanoma develops in the eyeball, it is usually in the part of the uvea called the choroid. Choroid cells have the same kind of pigment as melanocytes in the skin, so it is not surprising that these cells sometimes form melanomas. Approximately 90% of intraocular melanomas develop in the choroid".

On the Eye Cancer Network website http://www.eyecancer.com it says:
"Symptoms
Most choroidal melanoma patients have no symptoms and the melanoma is found on routine eye examination. If patients have symptoms, they are usually: seeing "flashes of light," "distortion" or loss of vision, and floating objects (floaters) in the vision.

1) If the choroidal melanoma is in the front of the eye, near the lens, it can push or tilt the natural lens causing an irregular astigmatism (blurring of vision).

2) Choroidal melanoma can leak fluid beneath the retina, making it detach and cause symptoms of flashing lights and floating specks.

3) If the choroidal melanoma is in the macula (center of vision), it can grow beneath the fovea making the patient far-sighted. The choroidal melanoma can also grow into and destroy the fovea causing distortion, loss of vision or changes in color perception.

It is important to note that most patients with choroidal melanoma have no symptoms at all. Their tumors are found when they visit their eye doctor for a "routine" eye examination. So everyone should have periodic eye examinations (including dilated ophthalmoscopy).

Other more unusual presentations of anterior choroidal and iridociliary melanoma are discoloration of the iris, a brown spot on the outside of the eye, an irregularly shaped pupil and glaucoma" {end of quote}.

I've been looking for information about ocular melanoma on the internet and I noticed that breast cancer cells can travel to the eye and establish metastatic cancer there - that's another thing I didn't know.

Best wishes,
Ed.

everyminute · March 2009

I went to the dermatologist this past week to have them look at a spot on my face that I was concerned was basal cell (very common and localized). She did a full body scan and found an atypical mole that she was concerned was melanoma - fortunately biopsy came back negative though I will need a reexcision.

Scary scary couple of days

And my sister is a 5 year survivor of ocular melanoma.

acarr · March 2009

Saluki, can you direct me to a site that lists two different color eyes as a marker for ocular melanoma? My 4-year old granddaughter has one green eye and one brown eye. I had no idea that this is something that needs to be watched closely. My granddaughter's great-grandfather had melanoma but survived the disease. Thanks for any info you can give. -- Amy

saluki · March 2009

Amy- I didn't read it. My sister was told that by one of the specialists. My niece's Doctors were world reknown in the field of ocular melanoma.

Dr. Carol Shields was one of her Doctors and here is an exerpt from one of her papers. Pay attention to where it talks about heterochroma.

http://books.google.com/books?id=SXYXDY2DPtAC&pg=PA6&lpg=PA6&dq=heterochromia+and+ocular+melanoma&source=bl&ots=KxJZrhvtxe&sig=t-aK3RcjYUIrfEK6QCBE3tzjao4&hl=en&ei=b5etSeytGZDEM7aYjOUE&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=7&ct=result

saluki · March 2009

My niece's grandmother has a very unusual presentation of skin melanoma. My niece was a very rare case of ocular melanoma. One eye was blue, the other was hazel from birth.

acarr · March 2009

Saluki, thanks so much for this information. I'll check out the link. I never dreamed that my sweet granddaughter's 2 different eye colors could be cause for concern. I'm so sorry about your niece. Such a horrible tragedy. -- Amy

The skin cancer melanoma - listening to Elisabeth (1978 - 2001)

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