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2011 Honorary Melanoma Survivor - Asherrie Opperman
In 2011, BTSR is partnering with Asherrie Opperman, a courageous young woman who battled Stage IV melanoma at the age of 15. Here is her incredible story:
In October of 2000, at the age of 15, I noticed a lump on my right calf that looked like a wart. I was a basketball player and a track athlete, and this wasn’t anything I wanted people to see while I was playing. After a couple of weeks with no change in the lump, I went to the Doctor’s office to get it looked at. The Dr, thinking it was a wart, burnt it off without giving it another thought.
Three months later, this “wart” had returned and was now even larger. I went to a new Doctor for a second look, and this time they cut into my leg to remove the lump and sent it in for a biopsy, assuring me it wasn’t anything to worry about. Two weeks later, my family and I were given the news that would forever change our lives. I had been diagnosed with Stage 4 Melanoma, with a tumor that was 7.0 mm in size.
When my parents told me I had melanoma, I really didn’t understand what they were talking about. I was born in Hawaii, and spent several years in California before my family and I moved to central Wisconsin. I was very healthy and active in sports, and hadn’t been sunburned a day in my life.
I had my first CT scan the next day, and the Doctors warned my parents that with a tumor this large, things didn’t look good. Following the CT scan, we went to UW Madison for further testing. At UW I had surgery to remove more tissue around my tumor and a sentinel node biopsy. I also had a PET scan done. It was then that we found out that the melanoma had spread to the lymph nodes in my groin. I had another surgery done to remove all the lymph nodes in my right groin.
It was time to discuss treatment options. I can remember sitting in the hospital room as the Doctors discussed my outlook. 23% stood out the most. The doctors were giving me a 23% chance at seeing my 16th birthday, and if I was lucky enough to see that birthday, a 43% chance of being 20. I distinctly remember the following thoughts running through my head during this session: “I have cancer, it doesn’t have me.”
They suggested I start interferon, the only treatment then approved by the FDA for melanoma treatment. It was described as a year long process during which I would feel as though I had the flu the entire time. They couldn’t say for certain if this treatment would significantly help my survival odds.
My family and I all agreed that this was not the route I should take. We started researching other options, and spoke with  many others in the melanoma community. We came across a woman in Chicago that told us about a clinical trial being set up by a Dr. Richards at Lutheran General in Park Ridge, IL. We set up a meeting and Dr. Richards, and the first time we met him, he grabbed me by the hand and asked if I was ready to beat this. I knew right away this was the right Doctor for me.
I wasn’t 18, so it was a process to get approved before I could enroll in the trial. In March I started my first round of Bio-Chemo, and for the next four months the hospital became my second home. In October of 2001, I had the first CT scan since my initial diagnosis. Six months later, another CT scan, same result. Every year that followed, my CT scan has showed no cancer, and last year, I celebrated 10 years free of cancer.
Join the Aaron Anchor and Asherrie Opperman families in their quest for awareness, their passion for early detection and their fight for more research dollars. Melanoma is preventable and treatable with early diagnosis so help us today and we can, and will certainly save lives!
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In the early spring of 1999 Bob Swofford found himself in the dermatologist’s office after a strange looking mole was seen on the back of his head. The mole was immediately removed and biopsied, which revealed it to be melanoma. After a surgical-wide excision of the area and a lymph node biopsy with clear results, Bob’s family finally breathed a sigh of relief. There was no further need for treatment; only routine visits, chest x-rays and skin checks every 3 months. Bob’s family was relieved that they only thing further they’d have to deal with were some strange looks he would receive when people saw the 4-inch scar on the back of his head. And to his family, the scar continually served as a constant reminder of what could have been a deadly diagnosis.
Swofford’s. One day in 2003, everything changed. Bob started feeling some pain in his ribs and he just assumed it was a pulled muscle, but the pain would not subside so he saw a doctor and eventually, an x-ray proved otherwise. Spots were detected on his lungs and after a series of scans and surgeries, it became clear that the melanoma had not only returned, but had already invaded his lungs, bones, and other major organs. It was Stage IV melanoma - and Bob and his family’s worst nightmare came true. 