Hi,
Let me give you a rundown of my situation, I'm looking for helpful advice so let me thank you in advance for your time and responses.
I'm located in Victoria, BC, Canada. Closest major cities are Vancouver BC and Seattle WA. Unfortunately we don't have any melanoma specialists in my province and I wouldn't be able to use any in Seattle unless I could afford it out-of-pocket, so the closest one that I could find on Google is about 1250kms away. Apparently we have a "critical" shortage of derms here in BC because their pay is the lowest here. There's actually more than one that commute across the country to work because they make more doing that than just staying home.
Anyways… Aug 2015 I had a mole removed from just below my right pectoral that was diagnosed 1B – <1mm thickness but with ulceration, Mitotic rate 1. As a follow up a couple weeks later I had a WLE along with SLNB, nothing else found. I guess that means I'm NED? Since then I've been seeing the dermatologist every 3 months, I've had a couple spots that were suspicious to me but he's not been concerned about anything he's seen so far. He did do a thorough exam on my first visit, I think to provide a baseline for any changes.
Now, however, it seems that every time I'm back, the visits are getting quicker and quicker (my last exam was probably 3-4 mins); almost like he's relying on me to tell him if there's anything that needs looking at. That said, I do have a small, firm, domed lump on my back, approximately 1cm across. I don't recall when it first showed up; my wife thinks it showed up around the same time as my initial diagnosis and surgery; possibly even before that but neither of us is completely sure. I've asked him about it a couple of times and he seems quite reluctant to do anything about it. My intial surgery site scar is hypertrophic and while that's not really cause for concern to me, he seems to think that we shouldn't do any more excisions unless absolutely necessary. He feels the lump on my back is a "benign cyst" and doesn't warrant any further tests. I didn't find much when I research melanoma + benign cyst, but I haven't been able to stop thinking about it and after a while I felt that it does warrant more tests. So I went to my GP and asked for a referral to another derm.
I wasn't actually concerned until I went to my GP (who also didn't seem too worried about it) and she called it a sebaceous cyst. When I started researching melanoma + sebaceous cyst, then I started to get concerned. Now I'm awaiting her call with her next steps, as she said she was going to consult my derm (who apparently is THE skin cancer dermatologist in our area) and get back to me with a course of action. I just want it removed and/or biopsied! Shouldn't they be jumping if I ask for something to be tested? What am I doing wrong when I go to see them? I'm not downplaying it (I don't think) when I'm there so are they right to not be concerned? I'm starting to think I may need to pitch a fit in order to get anywhere!
Anyone else been in this boat before? Or anyone else with Melanoma in BC? If so what's your story?
Thanks everybody… sorry I couldn't make this shorter.
JR
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