Hi I was just wondering if anyone on here has done interferon treatment for melanoma ? I had groin dissection in nov and have been on interferon treatment since dec 4 weeks with drip everyday and now 3x weekly injections for 47 weeks , I am finding it really tuff ie sideeffects mood swings etc i have googled and looked at many sites but not alot of information from patients .... ... View more

Hi I was just wondering about finacial assistance as I am about to start recieving my employment income protection I am not entitled to health care card and am doing interferon (melanoma )treatment the medication is $1583 every 3 weeks plus pain medication etc .... after I pay rent food etc my income protectin will not cover these costs ? I had one of assitance from cancer council to pay phone power bill but that was 1 off payment ........ How do people afford to have treatmnets pay for medication and live ? I am looking into super as well but that seems to be another nightmare area to deal with . it seams to me that having cancer is not enough to deal with all these agaency gov etc make you jump thru that many hoops I have had to wait 3 mths for my income protection and am praying that they start to pay by end of month as I now have used up all sick leave annual leave payments and any savings I had plus my family have kept me afloat this far but I hate being an emotional and finacial burden to them ..... any advise would be great I am in WA ... View more

hi , well my journey started a long 17yrs ago when i had a melonoma removed i didnt really know much then or now for that matter. all i know that it was bad they removed it i had regular checkups and after 5 yrs all good ......... until sept this year when i found small lump in groin went to gp who sent me to ultra sound then my world spiralled out of control tests more tests and diagoned with metastaic malignant melanoma and a groin dissection done 2 weeks ago and now waiting for that to heal and then chemo and then iterferon ...... it is all a little bit hard to comprehend and am doing my best to deal with it all day by day but am struggling with the fact that it has come back so many years later and i am just doing what i am told by doctors oncologist and surgeon . i am having trouble with my groin dissection as fluid build up is lumpy and along scar line as the drain became blocked so they removed at day 7 when i was still losing 120mls a day ........am going back to surgeon today to see what he wants to do until then i sit and wait for what seems like eternity as i have noidea how long this journey will be and how i will survive finacially as not recieving income anymore as run out of annual leave and sick days ..... so many thoughts running thru my head all the time ... View more