Posted by Bryan (Sudbury, Ontario, Canada) on 09/02/2012
I tried interferon in 2009, after 3 weeks of high-dose my liver enzymes went out-of-whack and my liver started to shut down. While on the treatment I had massive headaches, flu-like symptoms, and my personality changed (short tempered, mad at my family for no reason and very mean). I stopped the treatment and it all went away within a week. My oncologist said there was only a 10% chance it would reduce a recurrence and asked if I wanted to try self-dosing (epipen) every day at a lower dose, I denied and carried on with my life. Before the interferon I had a wide margin dissection where the mole was and a sentinal lymph node biopsy, the node came back negative. I had a recurrence in 2011 which resulted in surgery to remove the lumps and had radiation in the area.
There is no right or wrong answer as to what to do, at first diagnosis you reach for answers and cures other than surgery, chemo (which doesn't work for melanoma) and radiation. I personally don't believe alot of the crap that is on the internet about natural cures, actually the internet will only fill your head with false hope and promises and you'll waste alot of money at the same time. A good website for help is MRF (Melanoma Research Foundation), there is alot of knowledge there from patients and their families. I wish you my blessings, never lose hope or give up, a positive attitude is everything!
