Steve’s ready to march for a great cause Will you join him?
Steve Bassett is one lucky man, thanks to his wife Anne for encouraging him to have a skin spot checked. That spot, that she had discovered on his back, turned out to be a malignant melanoma.
It was late 2018, and by January, 2019, Steve was meeting with none other than recent Australian of the Year Professor Georgina Long, and Prof. Omgo Nieweg, in Sydney at the Melanoma Institute.
Steve’s melanoma was serious: it was in Stage 3. He began treatment with immunotherapy at Dubbo Cancer Centre under the guidance of Medical Oncologist Dr Rajat Rai.
After six months of treatment Steve was feeling quietly confident but in August, 2019, after a routine MRI scan a tumour was discovered on Steve’s brain. A CT also revealed tumours on his liver, spleen, and kidneys. It was a dark day for Steve. Dr Rai made immediate contact with Prof. Long and three days later, Steve was back in Sydney where it was found that his melanoma had progressed to a Stage 4.
A full PET scan and consultation with Prof. Long and Radiation Oncologist Prof. Angela Hong left Steve with a grim prognosis that treatment would only have a ten per cent success rate, and Steve had possibly twelve months to live. Steve began radiation treatment in Sydney and returned to Dubbo to begin a three-month course of immunotherapy. Steve calls it the “immuno cocktail” which he was given every three weeks.
Steve became quite depressed and anxious over the next twelve months after the effects of radiation, its side effects and of course the “immuno cocktails” had left their mark on him. Thankfully both MRI and CT scan results showed a reduction in the size of the tumours. Throughout COVID
Steve was unable to have his routine scans which was worrying, but in September, 2020, he was again able to have an MRI and CT scan which gave Steve the allclear. He still continued with an infusion of Nivolumab drug every four weeks.
By May, 2022, Steve was able to have his full PET scan at the new Dubbo Oncology Centre, and he was one of the first patients to have a PET scan at the Dubbo facility. To Steve and Anne’s delight his scans were all clear of cancer.
“If I didn’t have Anne in my corner every minute of this melanoma journey, I don’t think I would have made it, my darling wife and best mate,” Steve lovingly explained. “I am very happy and very lucky to be where I am today thanks to the caring and very professional doctors, nurses, medical staff, Dubbo Cancer Centre and the Melanoma Institute Australia,” Steve says.
His last lot of scans in January 2024 were clear of cancer, and Steve continues with an infusion of the Nivolumab drug every four weeks.
Come March 9, Steve will be marching with Anne, his family and friends, the Melanoma March committee and the many hundreds of people expected on the day.
Around 16,800 Australians will be diagnosed with melanoma this year, with Melanoma being the third most common cancer in Australia. One Australian is diagnosed with melanoma every 30 minutes. It is estimated 1300 Australians will die from melanoma this year.
The Melanoma March committee encourages all of Dubbo residents and surrounding communities to participate on March 9, Melanoma March Day. The event will commence from 8.30am in the morning. Registration and more information for the event can be found at: