Kevin Lankes’s Immunotherapy Story

I had this really funky mole on my leg that was elevated. It was hard as a rock and itchy. I thought it was a mosquito bite, but when I looked at it, I was like, “Oh God.” It definitely looked out of the ordinary.

I got my diagnosis over the phone in August 2011. It was a surreal moment. Right away, I went into business mode and started scheduling doctor appointments. Some people fall apart right away. I don’t; I fall apart later. I avoided telling my family for a while, but we eventually talked about it, and my mother kind of hijacked things and got it all taken care of for me. She was like, “No, we’re going here. These are the best people.” That’s how we found Dr. Kirkwood and my surgeon, Dr. Edington.

Obviously, immunotherapy is a wonderful alternative to chemo. There are no long‑term side effects that are shown in the research. The only thing I was told I would experience is basically a year of feeling crappy. I went ahead and I did it, and I definitely felt crappy for an entire year.

So, in December of 2011, I started treatment. It was a very hard month. I went to the hospital Monday through Friday to get hooked up to the machine, start the IV, and sit in the chair with everybody in the treatment ward. I was staying with my great aunt in Pittsburgh, and I would come home to her place and sit at this desk in the guest bedroom and write despite having chills and fever. I’d stop for dinner, around 6:30 to 7:00. When I couldn’t stay up any longer, I took anxiety meds and passed out. Then I woke up in the morning and I did it all again.

If it weren’t for all the bad parts of cancer, everybody would really benefit from it. I hope I can use that perspective in the future— like not getting angry about things, letting things go, being able to realize what’s important. Sometimes I find myself going back to my normal mode of operation, getting frustrated about commuting, etc., but then I remember, “Wait, you almost died once. What are you worried about?”