Caregiver is defined as a person who provides direct care. I am certain that definition, does not describe it adequately. There is so much more that goes into this full-time job, just ask Misti. Her husband has metastatic melanoma, she now takes care of him, her family plus the demands of daily life. its no easy task and I thank her for opening up her life, as a caregiver.

They think it possibly came from a sunburn maybe even when he was a kid or teenager that had not left a lesion but had already deposited the melanoma cells into his body.

Misti davis

I was once like most people I feel like in that I though melanoma was “just” a skin lesion. You have it removed, you’re done, nothing else to worry about… until now. 

I don’t have melanoma but my husband does. Metastatic Melanoma to be exact. I will never forget 4/1/2021, the April fools day that has been life changing when the doctors told us the results from the testing that he’d been going through for about 5 weeks at that point. 

His story is a little different. I want to share it to make people aware that melanoma is NOT just a skin lesion. 

He actually nicked himself shaving. When he went to dab the place he felt a knot on his neck, kinda under his ear. He immediately thought it was his lymph node and made an appointment with the primary care physician. This was December 2020. She diagnosed him with and ear infection and treated it with antibiotics. She felt like the swelling was probably a lymph node from the ear infection. After finishing the antibiotics the knot was still there so Mae contacted her again. She still thought it was probably just the lymph node swollen due to the ear infection but told us to watch it and if it was still there after about 6 weeks she would order a sonogram and ct just to make sure it wasn’t anything to be concerned about. 

Well, it was still there. By this time it was mid February. She ordered the sonogram and ct and it came back the he had a tumor of the parotid gland (saliva gland). She got him in to see an ENT quickly. The ENT did a needle biopsy and it came back malignant but inconclusive with dark pigment. He wanted my husband to go see a dermatologist to rule out melanoma, which we actually went to the dermatologist the following day after seeing the ENT. She did a full body check. HE HAS NO SKIN LESIONS! 

In the meantime, the ENT had referred him to an Otolaryngology that specializes in neck cancers at a specialty clinic about 3.5 hours away from where we live. We were able to see her about 2 weeks later where she repeated the biopsy of the parotid gland and also did a pet scan and mri. 

The final diagnosis was metastatic melanoma. The pet scan showed cells to be in his liver (which they also did a biopsy on to make sure it matched the biopsy from the parotid gland, and is did), spleen, and back. 

We couldn’t believe what we were hearing. Melanoma? But there nothing in his skin! 

My husband is 46 years old. They think it possibly came from a sunburn maybe even when he was a kid or teenager that had not left a lesion but had already deposited the melanoma cells into his body. He’s always had a strong immune system so it’s fought it off all this time.  It has turned our world upside down. 

He has since had 2 rounds of immunotherapy ( the last treatment being 5/20/2021) and has 2 more to go of the 2 drug regimen. Then they will rescan to see if it’s helping. So far his side effects from it have been very minimal and we hope and pray it stays that way but with promising results. The parotid tumor has already started to decrease in size! 

We continue to stay prayerful and positive the best we can. We have a great support system from family, friends and our church. We’re taking one day at a time! 

My hope from sharing my husbands story is that it would raise awareness to others that melanoma is NOT just something you can see on the surface. Be persistent if you think something isn’t quite right and protect yourself and your loved ones from damaging UV rays! 

Blessings- Misti 

Please allow Misti’s story to sink and begin your sun safety lifestyle, NOW! Stay Shady Friends.