Katy's Iron Man for Melanoma - September 11, 2011

Katy running her first Iron Man triathlon

Katy ran the Ironman Wisconsin on September 11, 2011. She accomplished this with stage IV melanoma and set a personal record of 12:38:22. I did not realize that Katy ran her Ironman for melanoma until after I signed up to run the 2012 Chicago Marathon for charity in her honor. I found her fundraising page a few days ago, but today was the first day that I felt up to reading what Katy wrote about her personal battle with this disease. I was afraid that reading her words might make me feel sad. They did, but I am truly thankful that I read them anyway because they also made me more feel more determined than ever to accomplish my goals. Katy is an incredible person. She writes intelligently, compellingly, & beautifully about what melanoma is & what it is like to begin such a battle at only 26 years old. I think that her words will benefit others in terms of awareness and inspiration. Thank you for taking the time to read this message.

Sincerely, Rebecca Scott

 

The Ironman motto is “Anything is possible.”  I proved as much on August 31, 2008 when I crossed the line of my first Ironman triathlon, covering 140.6 miles in 13 hours.  The date marked seven years and one day after a surgeon removed the last known melanoma cancer cells from my body.  Melanoma is the most deadly form of skin cancer – totally curable when caught early, and impossibly dangerous if not.  I had been diagnosed at stage III, meaning the cancer had already spread to my lymph nodes before it was discovered.  At the age of 26, I was faced with only a 60% chance of seeing 36.  So hearing my name announced as I crossed that finish line at twilight felt like an exclamation point on my victory over the disease.  I was newly married, life looked beautiful, and I thought melanoma was permanently in my rear view mirror.

Not so.  Barely a year later, I sat in another surgeon’s office weeping hysterically when he told me that the “cyst” he had removed from my neck was actually a recurrence of that same melanoma.  Eight years later, it was back, and now it was stage IV – systemic disease with a dismal prognosis.  Even though the cancer had metastasized to the “least bad” of possible locations in my body, appearing as bumps under my skin and in my lymph nodes, the chances of living just one more year were 60%; only one in five survive five years.  To make a long story short, my loved ones mobilized with me and we fought.  For six months, I spent about a week per month in intensive care, receiving an immunotherapy regimen so brutal that it killed 2% of patients in clinical trials – and helped only 16%.  Still, it was the best available therapy.  I was among the lucky ones, and my melanoma responded.  After another surgery, I came out on top again.  No evidence of disease – NED

My reprieve lasted three months.  Last September, melanoma showed up again under my skin, and terrifyingly, in my brain.  Metastases to the brain are the most feared risk of melanoma, because median survival is as short as 4.4 months.  Radiation, a clinical trial, brain surgery, and more surgery followed.  For now, I am winning.  My most recent scans show a few things to watch, but nothing requiring immediate attention.  I shall have another three-month reprieve.  I’m going to spend it doing what I love most:  enjoying my family, living to the fullest, and racing triathlons!

In order to do an Ironman, one must register a full year in advance.  (Indeed, there are enough crazy people in the world that these races sell out within hours!)  The registration window for this year’s Wisconsin race opened up just after I’d learned of the most recent recurrence.  My husband encouraged me to register, risking the $600 entry fee, because in his words, he wanted me to have a chance.  He wanted me to have a chance to cross that line again, to live my dream, to prove that anything IS possible.

- Katy Sirovatka, June 2011

Related Links:

1) Rebecca's fundraising page for Melanoma: http://www.active.com/donate/12JTCHI/rebecca23

2) Katy's fundraising page for Melanoma:  http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/katysirovatka/imwi

3) Official 2011 Iron Man Wisconsin Race Results: http://ironman.com/assets/files/results/wisconsin/2011.txt