My name is Michelle, I am 45 years old and have 4 daughters aged between 4 and 22. I was a Mental Health Nurse with a very busy, challenging but rewarding career. In August 2009 I was diagnosed with malignant melanoma when I noticed a mole had changed in colour and shape on my back. The mole was removed, with no further treatment needed as I was told the cancer cells had only dropped down into the first layer of skin. I was seen for 5 years through dermatology then discharged.
Then in 2017 from a routine chest X-ray unrelated to the melanoma, 3 tumours were found. After a CT and a brain MRI scan, I was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic melanoma with tumours in my breast, lung, lymph gland and brain Mets.
Thankfully I was offered CyberKnife on my brain mets, they were very small but there were 8 in total. The oncologist was not sure if I would be eligible for treatment with CyberKnife due to the number but fortunately for us, the team said yes. The CyberKnife was a success in controlling the Mets and shrinking them with negligible side effects. This was a godsend as I run a very busy house with 4 children, the youngest being 2 at the time.
Over the last 3 years, I have been treated 4 times with CyberKnife and had over 50 metastases treated. I received my Cyberknife treatment at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham and with my consent, the medical team pushed boundaries to give me the best chance of controlling the disease in the brain. I have been lucky enough to be one of the few patients so far where the use and efficacy of CyberKnife have been pushed to its limits with amazing results. Each time the drugs failed the CyberKnife team stepped in. This has enabled me to be here now to receive new medications for melanoma which were not available when I started this journey.
Although it is true I have had some side effects the accuracy of CyberKnife has made these minimal and cancer had already killed these areas of the brain.
As my family says I am still very much me and having me with some minor side effects is a whole world better than not having me here.
There is no doubt that without CyberKnife I would not be here now to tell you my story.