Pediatric Melanoma Awareness – Marit Peterson

Guest blog from Marit Peterson, a pediatric melanoma thriver who was diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma as an infant:

Marit Liv Peterson was born in Dallas, Texas in 2004 into a loving family. Her cancer story began as an infant. Her tumor first appeared on her right ring finger when she was three months old, but doctors felt it wasn’t anything concerning. Her mom finally convinced a surgeon to remove the growth which looked like a number 2 pencil eraser. The biopsy took months to get a final answer. And, just before her second birthday, Marit was diagnosed with stage IIIB melanoma. A melanoma diagnosis at her age was unheard of, and she became the youngest melanoma patient that MD Anderson Cancer Center had ever seen. Marit was given just six months to live. 

The year was 2006, and there were not a lot of treatment options at the time, especially not for a pediatric patient. Marit’s wonderful team of doctors did everything they could to ensure that she would survive beyond her second birthday.  

After many surgeries to remove her tumor and 17 lymph nodes, Marit was declared “cancer-free.” She started a year-long alpha interferon treatment plan to ensure that her melanoma would not return. She had a Broviac port in her chest for the month-long induction phase of treatment, then her mom had to give her three shots a week for a year. This treatment made her very sick: no appetite, high fevers, hair loss, dry skin and night terrors.  

After a difficult year of treatment, Marit began a life-long journey of remission, and she will be seen by MD Anderson every year for the rest of her life. The thing about melanoma is that it can always come back. Because of this, Marit makes a point to wear sunscreen every day, limit her time in the sun and always check her moles.  

As she has gotten older, Marit discovered that this awful thing called “cancer” can lead to a passion. She has learned to educate her peers about skin safety and motivate them to protect themselves to prevent melanoma. Marit is now in her third year of undergraduate at the University of Texas at Austin with a dream of becoming a dermatologist, so that she can educate about skin safety, give people confidence on the outside and ensure that no one else has to go through the same thing that she did.