I have discussed throughout this blog how most people think melanoma is not a big deal. People assume that they will have a mole removed and that will be that. I used to be one of those people too. I can't tell you how many times people have said something like "They will remove it, and you will be fine." That is not exactly how it works with advanced melanoma...at all.
I am quite anxious for the next season of Grey's Anatomy to begin so I was browsing online about their past seasons. I remembered that in season 5 of Grey's Anatomy, Izzie learns that she has stage IV malignant melanoma. Although I do not agree completely with the way melanoma is portrayed in the series, there are a few parts that hit home.
Here is what happens when Izzie's mom arrives to the hospital after learning her daughter has a type of cancer:
Izzie: Um, mom, just um, just listen ok? I... I don't have breast cancer. Ok, I have skin cancer. Or, what started out as skin cancer.
Mrs Stevens: Wait, hang on. Skin cancer? Oh, God! Izabel Stevens. Oh, you scared the hell out of me. And then you made me come all the way up here to Seattle just for some ugly old mole. Oh, sweetheart." (http://www.tvfanatic.com/quotes/shows/greys-anatomy/season-5/page-7.html)
"Izzie: Mom. It's not just a mole. I have stage 4 melanoma. It's in my organs. It's not just a mole.
Mrs Stevens: You don't have skin on your organs, hun. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Don't just sigh at me Izobel. Just, you know. Just explain.
Izzie: Ok, um, you remember when Grammy had that tumor on her thyroid?
Mrs Stevens: Grammy died. She died, she... really soon after that she died. Wh... why are you t... telling me this? You have a mole. I don't understand. You, you just... you have a mole. Wh... what. Wh...
Izzie: Ok. I'm sorry. That was a really bad comparison."
Mrs Stevens: You don't have skin on your organs, hun. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Don't just sigh at me Izobel. Just, you know. Just explain.
Izzie: Ok, um, you remember when Grammy had that tumor on her thyroid?
Mrs Stevens: Grammy died. She died, she... really soon after that she died. Wh... why are you t... telling me this? You have a mole. I don't understand. You, you just... you have a mole. Wh... what. Wh...
Izzie: Ok. I'm sorry. That was a really bad comparison."
Izzie tells her mom that it is a bad comparison because her mom begins to grasp the fact that her cancer is cancer, it is not just a mole that has to be removed. You can see her shock in realizing that melanoma spreads beyond the skin. It is shocking because we all assume melanoma is juuuust skin cancer, we assume it is one of the better cancers to get. Melanoma is not curable. Remember that.
One last thing. What do you say to someone who has just learned of their diagnosis?
"Izzie: You say, they have a choice. They can runaway and hide from it, or they can face it. You say they need to be around the people who love them, because it's gonna be the toughest fight of their life, and no one should have to do it alone. And then you give them the odds. And even though a 5 percent survival rate is bad, it's really bad. You say.... you say....
Lexie: Screw the odds! People die of the hiccups. My mother died of the hiccups. Survival rate for that is what... 100 percent? The odds are that she should be alive right now. The odds are... The odds are crap! So people should face it and they should fight." http://www.tvfanatic.com/quotes/shows/greys-anatomy/season-5/page-14.html
That's right...
The odds are crap.
Let's face it
and FIGHT.
