Melanoma Survivor

At 49, Shelly Polak was healthy and in shape when she began to have symptoms that resembled a stroke. Then, they quickly went away. After it happened a second time, her husband rushed her to the hospital. Testing showed she had Stage IV melanoma. Faith in her doctor, support from her family and treatment with immunotherapy helped her overcome it. Today, she shows no evidence of disease and is living life to the fullest.

Sometimes cancer doesn’t show up like you expect. My husband Jim and I were on a fishing trip, and we visited a gift shop. As I looked around, I began to feel very strange. My arms and feet suddenly felt like they were floating. My vision started phasing in and out. I became disoriented and felt like I was going to pass out. I grabbed onto Jim’s arm and he helped me out of the store. As we drove back to our condo, the feeling wore off.

The next day, I was at the grocery store when suddenly I couldn’t feel my hands or legs. Everything slowed down, including my walking and my speech. As soon as I got in the car, I called my husband. He knew immediately something was wrong because of the way I was talking. He told me to stay in the car and he’d come get me.

Our condo was just across the street from the grocery store, and I wanted to get the car back home before my husband arrived. I rolled down the windows, drove the car into the condo’s parking lot and stayed in the car. Five minutes later, Jim scooped me up out of my car, put me in his truck and rushed me to the hospital.

The ER doctor asked me a battery of questions: Had I been drinking or doing drugs? Was I pregnant? My answer was no to everything. They ran tests and an MRI. They feared I was having a stroke. While in the hospital, the symptoms eased, and I slowly came back to normal.

When about six or seven doctors walked into my room together to give me the test results, my heart sank. Seeing that many doctors with dreadful looks in their eyes, I knew it had to be bad.

They found multiple cancerous tumors in my brain. They thought one had pushed on a nerve that sends signals to my hands and legs, which caused the strange feelings I had, but they couldn’t be sure. They also discovered a bump in my groin area that I didn’t even realize was there. At the time, they did not know the origin or type of the cancer. They suspected the cancer started somewhere, then spread to the lymph node in my groin and traveled right up to my brain.

I went into complete shock. I felt like I became a whole different person. My life was turned upside down.

They kept me in the hospital and ran more tests. The next day, they confirmed it was melanoma, and I started treatment a few days later. The strangest part was that even though they searched me from top to bottom, they never found a lesion. I suspected it was a mole on my abdomen, but when biopsied, it was not malignant, so we will never know.

The oncologist on duty that day in the ER became my doctor, and I still see him today. I am so grateful for him. He has a very straightforward nature and tells me exactly what’s going on. He told me if I didn’t do any treatment, I had about three months to live.

My first treatment was immunotherapy and an anti-seizure medication. After treatment began, I developed a major migraine that wouldn’t go away, had severe neck pain, became very emotional and would nod off during conversations. The doctors said these were side effects. After they adjusted my medication, they thankfully went away.

Over the next few months, scans showed the tumors were shrinking.

After two years of immunotherapy, the scans and blood work showed I had no evidence of disease. I have finished treatment but remain diligent about keeping up on my MRIs and follow-up appointments. I am so grateful for immunotherapy. It saved my life. I knew in the beginning I didn’t want chemotherapy or radiation to my brain. Hearing that immunotherapy was an option was like seeing sunshine.

Throughout everything, my family provided a ton of support. My oldest sister sent me a card in the mail every day for two years straight while I was in treatment.

Regardless of the type of cancer you have, do your research. Be an advocate for yourself. It’s ok if you don’t agree with your doctor, but look for one that listens to you and treats you as one of the family. Take care of your body even when you don’t feel like it. Eat healthy, including a lot protein to counteract muscle loss, and go for walks.

My doctor encouraged me to feed my body, mind and soul. Today, I feel great and look forward to the future.