“You know back then it wasn’t a big drama, they just cut it off. I wasn’t too worried.” he said.

“They used to say out of all the types of cancer melanoma was the one you want!”

About 15 years later, Mr Dennis started feeling pain in his chest cavity, and his wife convinced him to get it checked out by a doctor.

“I couldn’t sleep because every time I moved a little the pain would wake me up.” he said

The doctors found melanoma in his left lung and removed it, and once again Mr Dennis was given the all clear.

Six months passed, and Jeff Dennis went in for a check up, only to receive terrible news.

“The nurse turned to me and said, ‘you’re riddled’, and I said, ‘riddled with what?’, ‘melanoma’ she said. ‘define riddled?’ I said. And she said, ‘well, it’s in your lungs, it’s in your bones, it’s in your organs-’ and I said ‘oh, that’s riddled’.”

The medical staff informed him that the average life expectancy for someone with stage 4 melanoma (the most severe diagnosis) is around 1-5 years.

Figuring he had nothing to lose, Jeff Dennis decided to go on a clinical trial for two new drugs.

“I had tumours everywhere, you could feel them in my neck and under my skin.” he said.

“Tumours have this protective coating that actually hide them from your immune system. One of the drugs removes that coating so that they can be found.”

Treatment has gone relatively well so far, to the point where he can continue working and living life as ‘normal’.

“You know, it changes your whole outlook on life,” he said.

“You work out what’s important, what really matters. You start making a bucket list. This is the time I have left, what am I going to do with it?”

And one of the things Jeff Dennis will be doing is raising money to support cancer research.

Mr Dennis will be one of many marching on March 11 in Wollongong, raising funds and awareness for cancer research. Although trial drugs have enabled people with cancer to lead a relatively normal life, they still have a way to go, according to the initiative.

They’re also very expensive.

“They’re just not an option for most people.” said Mr Dennis.

“We’re talking big, like having to consider selling your car or your house in order to get treatment. That’s why I’m doing this.” 

Register for the event or donate at www.melanomamarch.org.au