Lora Wellington

Meet Lora, her melanoma fight began in March 2020. She had a tumor on her upper thigh that was removed, it turned out to be melanoma, Stage 1B.

There was a 97% chance it would not spread to nearby lymph nodes, 3% it would. Lora had full body scans every 90 days, oncologist appointments every 6 months.

In September of 2022 Lora had a swollen lymph node in her pelvic area, it was removed, they did a biopsy, and it was diagnosed as melanoma. Lora was in that 3%, the melanoma had spread.

She started immunotherapy drugs and after a few weeks it was determined that Lora’s cancer had progressed to Stage 3B. She moved her care to Wash U. Once they had her treatment plan in place, she was denied by the insurance company for the two drugs the doctors prescribed; the insurance company didn’t think she needed both. After an appeal, and wasting precious time, she was finally approved for 6 months.

Lora struggles everyday, knowing that her mother passed away from cancer and what she went through. “It scares me every day and I want to keep fighting for my family and be here with them along with enjoying my life. At the age of 37 with four kids, this doesn’t seem natural to have occurred to someone, but it’s opened my eyes to realize cancer does not care how old or young you are. I am learning to take everything one day at a time and not to look too far forward as to what may or may not happen or what did or did not happen.”

Welcome to our Blackout Melanoma family Lora.

Pictured: Lora with her husband Kevin and their four children Annie, Molly, and twins, Rory & Hallie