› Forums › General Melanoma Community › 2012 stage 1 what should I watch for?
- This topic has 4 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 1 month ago by
cancersnewnormal.
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- January 2, 2018 at 6:22 am
I was dx with 1A on my left leg no follow up testing by recommendation of the oncologist due to its depth. Over the last year my dermatologist felt a lymph node in my groin area but as I’m a thin person she said sometimes you can feel them more on that body type. Also through the year I have a lipoma in my left upper arm, underneath, I have to raise my elbow to let them check it. I have been having migraines for years. That run in my family but they have been well controlled on an preventative medicine. I feel ok. My husband says I’m sweating profusely at night. He says it really gross. I don’t sweat during the day. I feel like I’m hypersensitive for some reason. I can now feel the lump in my groin along with one in my breast the lipoma and in my neck. I do always feel tired and a bit easier winded
What should I look for? 39 year old mama.
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- January 2, 2018 at 9:24 pm
Ask your family doc to get you a chest x-ray. It can't hurt to look further into what might be making you winded, particularly as a thin person. Also… has anyone done any kind of biopsy on that "lipoma"? Are they CERTAIN that is what it indeed is? Aaaaaaand… if you're feeling a breast lump… it's time to see your gyno and get a mammogram. Every "symptom" you describe could be easily explained away… or could be "something". Better safe than sorry. 🙂
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- January 8, 2018 at 1:11 am
Thanks for responding. This all started a year ago and that’s the thing. I get everything checked. My mamm showed the lump so they did an ultrasound and it’s just a cyst. Last week I did get checked out this lymph nodes that stays swollen in my neck and since there is an enlarged one in my groin also they are going to do a CT of neck with contrast. All doctors seem to make me feel confident every new symptom is nothing to worry about then something else pops up. This dr seemed to be concerned that my husband says I sweat profusely at night. Doesn’t bother me cause I’m asleep. I do t do it in the day. Guess we will see.
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- January 8, 2018 at 3:25 pm
Night sweats are a concern. I would wake up soaking wet. Oddly enough, only around the time of PMS or during my period. I was 38 at that time, and both my primary care doc and my gyn brushed it off as "premenopausal". I brushed off some breathing challenges as "seasonal allergies", because I only had noticeable issues while out on my daily bicycle rides. After an awful bike crash in Nov 2012, I got a tetnus shot in the right arm. My armpit swelled up like a third breast! Again… docs said "Nah, that's probably just a bad response to the shot. Give it a week, take some Tylenol, and come back if it doesn't reduce in size again." It went back down. I brushed it off. After all, I was a cycling machine… best fitness condition of my life, super active, and working a very very full time job. Not a worry in the world 5 years past my initial stage 1a (top of right shoulder) melanoma diagnosis. Everything was super explainable…. until I had a seizure at work in April 2013. Struck me completely unexpectedly. Turned out, I had a golfball size lesion in my right lower lung lobe, along with two more in the lungs, and an additional 3 in the brain. AFTER the stage IV diagnosis, I develped a "fatty cyst" on my left shoulderblade. Docs removed it. Melanoma. I also developed a breast lump, noted on a routine mammogram. Melanoma. Thankfully, science had progressed to a point, where anti-PD1 immunotherapy drugs were getting FDA approved outside of trial use. With a few surgeries and brain radiation, I made it to the approval, and have been NED for quite some time now. Please be pushy with your doctors for biopsy, imaging, and blood labs. Doctors will default to the most explainable reasons for the things you are experiencing…… mostly, because the reasons are indeed MOST OFTEN nothing to worry about. Its when a "2-4% chance of metastasis" oddball like me rolls along, that doctors are stopped in their tracks, questioning every choice they made in my diagnosis and treatment. I question EVERYTHING now. I want definitive answers, and WHY the doctor is so confident in what they are saying. Any lump or bump under your skin that is a potential cyst or lipoma should be biopsied or removed, simply based on your history. There are sooooo many more treatment options available, and trials are moving fast and furious as well. But diligence and early detection are still the key to this beast. I would rather someone side overly cautious, than do as I mistakenly did, and assume everything had the simplest explanation, without concrete proof of such.
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- January 8, 2018 at 1:37 am
Not to alarm but I had a breast “cyst” on exam, mammogram and ultrasound that biopsied as melanoma met (prior surgery 2009). It may be nothing but make sure they know your history. As soon as I mentioned my history they went straight to a fine needle biopsy and I’m very glad they did.
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