Sept 17, 2023

Dear Friends & Family,

As many of you know, in April 2022 Anderson discovered a spot on his back that turned out to be Melanoma. After two surgeries at Sutter Heath with an extremely kind and experienced Dr. Stanley Leong, (respectively June and September of 2022, sentinel lymph node and then further radical 31 lymph node dissection) he was staged as 3C and immunotherapy was recommended. He started with the Melanoma Center at UCSF for his further care and infusions of immunotherapy. From October 2022 until this June he did immunotherapy every three weeks, often feeling extremely fatigued for several days afterwards. Still, his attitude was incredible. Smiling and radiating positivity through it all. That is our Anderson, no surprise there. 

Unfortunately, late last Spring one of his regular PET scans showed signs that the Melanoma had spread to spots in his hips, rib and possibly further. A brain MRI on June 14th showed 22+ lesions in his brain and changed the diagnosis to Stage 4 Metastatic Melanoma. Our worst fears were confirmed and we settled in for a few days of shock, nonstop tears and walking around in an absolute daze. The heaviness in our chests was palpable. Still, Anderson's attitude remained resolute to fight and he remained positive. He was more concerned with us his family, than he was about himself. This is typical of his caring and loving personality - as you know.

A few days later on June 17th, he began an oral chemotherapy treatment of Tafinlar and Mekanist, a combo of drugs specifically designed to target the type of Melanoma mutation he has called a BRAF+. Those drugs can obviously make a patient feel sick and within 48 hours of starting the meds, Anderson had fevers and chills which is a common side effect.

Anderson also met with a Radiation Oncologist Dr. Peggy Sneed at UCSF and underwent Gamma Knife Surgery on Wednesday, July 5th to target the 22 spots in his brain with pinpoint accuracy gamma radiation. It was very long and extremely difficult day for him, arriving at the hospital at 7am and not finishing until well after 9pm. He spent 4 hours in the Gamma Knife machine, after 2 brain MRI's. We were grateful he was a candidate for this type of procedure, although the process was grueling for him. He was so brave and I remained in awe of his positive attitude. 

The following week, were able to fly to Houston to meet with Dr. Hussein Tawbi of MD Anderson Cancer Center in person for a second opinion. Dr. Tawbi specializes in melanoma brain metastasis and therefore seems like the right doctor to consult with. We feel positive about his expertise and experience with clinical trials, etc. 

The latest PET scans on Sept 12th showed that the chemo drugs are working on his bones and thus the lesions in his hips and ribs are disappearing (hooray!), but the brain MRI showed multiple new lesions in his brain. This news was very difficult to hear, but we know he will continue to ride the rollercoaster in the fight against cancer and do what he needs to get better.

At this time he will continue his oral chemo medications and work through the fevers by taking Prednisone. He needs to try to increase his chemo dosage even further so the medicine can eventually get through to his brain. That's the goal. We know the chemo is working in his body, but the brain is an especially difficult place to treat because the brain barrier filters out a lot of things - including life saving chemotherapy. We will zoom with his second opinion oncologist Dr. Tawbi of MDA this week to see if he feels the current treatment is sufficient. Together with Anderson's oncologist at UCSF, Dr. Adil Daud, his team will connect and agree on a course of treatment moving forward. Anderson has a repeat MRI in mid-October at UCSF.

In the meantime, we are enjoying each day as best we can! He continues to play music as often as possible, which makes us all so happy. This summer he played a lot of golf with Jackson, Kingston and Ryder, and enjoyed spending so much time with our family while we were all under one roof. Understandably, some days are harder than others, but we are enjoying each one as best we can. We know we are not alone, and feel massive support from all of you, so thank you! We love each of you so much and are forever grateful for your love, thoughts & prayers.

Please if you have not already, schedule your yearly skin check with a dermatologist for anyone 18 years of age and up!

Laura xx