Brian saw his surgeon today and has been told that his melanoma is considered to be Stage IIIB ie it has moved from his temple into a lymph gland on his neck. The good news is that the CT scan revealed no other potential sites of concern.
Normally, the next step would be to do further surgery on his neck, but that would involve cutting into muscle and perhaps limiting his neck and arm movement which would not be ideal.
There are other standard treatments for this stage, including boosts of the immune system and radiology. His surgeon will be consulting with other oncologists and will meet with Brian in 6 six weeks time to start what will be considered the best route(s).
He has been extremely pleased with the surgeon as welll as the speed of action. (While I was in the waiting room, I heard a receptionist tell a patient on the phone that even urgent CT scans took 2-3 months to schedule. Brian got his in 9 days.)
So, things are well in hand and an good outcome is very likely. I will keep everyone posted as things develop. Thanks for all your good wishes--it is encouraging.
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