Rachel Keogh

PATIENT STORIES - RACHEL KEOUGH

My name is Rachel. Im from Dublin, Ireland. 

Well my very long story starts just after my 40th birthday in 2016 my son Hayden noticed something behind my ear while brushing my hair. I didn't really pay attention until my hairdresser said the same thing to me. I of course couldn't see it so I showed my husband David who straight away was concerned.

Next a trip to my GP who told me I needed to have a biopsy but not to worry. I had to go to a private hospital as going public would have been a long wait. So in Aug 2016, I had a procedure to have it removed. Waited a few weeks to be told it was stage 3 melanoma. Had a WLE  behind my ear and lymph node removal. The lymph node came back positive. Done interferon for 6 months. Got the all clear.

Happy days… until I noticed a lump in my neck in 2017. Had a biopsy and sadly melanoma had returned, so on to neck dissection. 50 nodes removed (5 cancerous) next 28 sessions of neck radiotherapy in St Lukes hospital.  All clear again. Then CT scan shows melanoma in the parotid gland 2018. So more surgery to remove that. 

Next immunotherapy 20 sessions ipi/nivo 2020/2021 then discovered new melanoma on lungs then my liver.

So immunotherapy stopped and targeted therapy started 2022 (really struggled to find a treatment to suit, in and out of the hospital. Finally after 3 different attempts at different treatments I'm finally content on my chemo tablets.

Then CT scan shows melanoma on brain, devastated. MyOncologist has said to give my treatment a go and then rescan and hopefully I'll have good results, if not maybe brain surgery and/or radiotherapy. So ill push on and go again. 

It's a living nightmare. My family and friends and the amazing oncology team in St Jame's Hospital are keeping me here. I have huge trust and faith in them.”