Hello, apliece--
My father has gone through the same thing. He was diagnosed with melanoma about 4-5 years ago. Here's the basic sequence of events.
1. He went in to have his knee worked on, only to find a mole that sported stage 3 melanoma.
2. The dr's performed surgery to remove some lymph nodes from the knee, groin, and one or two other areas--I forget specifically where. (In case you didn't know, lymph nodes act like filters in an aquarium or a ventilation system--they catch impurities...however, normally they can eliminate impurities, but cancer can often be too much for them to handle, hence the reason they are removed.)
3. They performed an experimental procedure of running chemo through his leg, which killed any remaining forms of cancer.
4. Throughout the course of this mess, many localized scans, as well as full-body scans were performed. Often these included shots of dye to make cancerous cells more visible.
5. The experimental procedure was the one that finally did it! He has officially been cancer free for about a year now.

He has since been taking shots to prevent a recurrence. The shots contain some chemical that can mess with your mind and sink you into a chemical depression, but the lower-dosage shots aren't so bad. I think 8-9 more months of these shots should be the duration of the treatment.
6. When it's all said and done, it took 7 normal surgeries plus the experimental one, which makes 8, 1 month of high-dosage preventative injections, 11 months of low-dosage preventative injections (which he is still on), and of course many routine check-ups to make sure that when it's gone it doesn't come back. Sadly, the more treatment you go through, the more your chances of success diminish. As of the end of his injections, he'll be down to a 35% chance of success.

Not the greatest of odds, but he's still around and that's all I'm asking for.
Also, I will tell you of another acquaintence of mine who was diagnosed with cancer. His was so advanced that he was given a month to live. He was a successful, powerful businessman who has money to throw around, so he offered $10,000 towards cancer research for every treatment he receives. He was diagnosed before my dad was. Both my dad and this other guy still own and operate their own businesses on a daily basis. Both are alive and well. Both still have happy family lives. And both are cancer-free.
Take heart, my friend, and don't lose hope.