All of this is new to me – HELP

Welcome to our forum. Here is some info about Clark's level:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_level#Clark.27s_level  Many people confuse Clark's
level with what we mean by stage, and they are not the same. So please try not to be too
concerned at the moment.

Hope this helps.

Frank from Australia

Welcome to our forum. Here is some info about Clark's level:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_level#Clark.27s_level  Many people confuse Clark's
level with what we mean by stage, and they are not the same. So please try not to be too
concerned at the moment.

Hope this helps.

Frank from Australia

Here is a guide that may help you get upto speed on the Language of Melanoma and the the oncologists.

Take a deep breath and don't panic.

It is called    "just diagnosed"

http://www.box.net/shared/c8yuko9a28

warm regards

Jimmy b

Here is a guide that may help you get upto speed on the Language of Melanoma and the the oncologists.

Take a deep breath and don't panic.

It is called    "just diagnosed"

http://www.box.net/shared/c8yuko9a28

warm regards

Jimmy b

Welcome to our board. We've all been there when first diagnosed. When first diagnosed your mind is whirling and you probably don't recall half of what has been said. Take someone to the Dr with you!

 It's already been explained to you that Clark level 3 is not stage 3. That explains the level of dermis that has been invaded.  The most important pieces of information right now is the Breslow depth and the miotic factor.  Your Breslow is most likely 1.5.  Knowing that you should have a sentinal node biopsy done right now before the wide excision. Protocal is .75 – 1.00 if there is a high miotic rate. Anything 1.0 and larger should also have a Sentinal Node biopsy.  This is not done in the Dr office.  The reasoning is to not disturb the lymphatic pathway before you have the large wide excision.  If this hasn't been explained call your Dr and ask.  Have you been referred to a surgical oncologist for this procedure?

I'm only explaining this so that things happen in sequential order. Staging can't be done till the wide excision to make sure that clear margins have been gotten.  If you can retype the findings on the pathology report we might be able to give more info. 

Deep breaths but do get all the info before Monday when you have the wide excision. Make sure to call and ask if they are doing a Sentinal Node(SNB).

Linda

Stage IV since 06 presently NED (no evidence of disease) dealing with mel since 79

Welcome to our board. We've all been there when first diagnosed. When first diagnosed your mind is whirling and you probably don't recall half of what has been said. Take someone to the Dr with you!

 It's already been explained to you that Clark level 3 is not stage 3. That explains the level of dermis that has been invaded.  The most important pieces of information right now is the Breslow depth and the miotic factor.  Your Breslow is most likely 1.5.  Knowing that you should have a sentinal node biopsy done right now before the wide excision. Protocal is .75 – 1.00 if there is a high miotic rate. Anything 1.0 and larger should also have a Sentinal Node biopsy.  This is not done in the Dr office.  The reasoning is to not disturb the lymphatic pathway before you have the large wide excision.  If this hasn't been explained call your Dr and ask.  Have you been referred to a surgical oncologist for this procedure?

I'm only explaining this so that things happen in sequential order. Staging can't be done till the wide excision to make sure that clear margins have been gotten.  If you can retype the findings on the pathology report we might be able to give more info. 

Deep breaths but do get all the info before Monday when you have the wide excision. Make sure to call and ask if they are doing a Sentinal Node(SNB).

Linda

Stage IV since 06 presently NED (no evidence of disease) dealing with mel since 79

HI! Melanoma is scary, and I know what it feels like when first diagnosed. Knowing as much as possible about melanoma helped me quite a bit, so study up! The most important advice for you right now would be for you to make sure that you are seeing a melanoma specialist. This should be a surgeon, or surgical oncologist, with lots of experience treating melanoma. Usually you are best off at a major medical center where there is a melanoma clinic. Don't let the derm do the wide excision!

As it stands now you would be stage 1 or 2 depending on a few factors such as "ulceration". The important next step, like linda mentioned, is checking the lymph nodes which should be done along with your wide excision. This procedure is called a sentinel node biopsy. Only if the nodes came back positive would you be stage 3. Hopefully that won't happen. Good luck and let us know how you make out.

HI! Melanoma is scary, and I know what it feels like when first diagnosed. Knowing as much as possible about melanoma helped me quite a bit, so study up! The most important advice for you right now would be for you to make sure that you are seeing a melanoma specialist. This should be a surgeon, or surgical oncologist, with lots of experience treating melanoma. Usually you are best off at a major medical center where there is a melanoma clinic. Don't let the derm do the wide excision!

As it stands now you would be stage 1 or 2 depending on a few factors such as "ulceration". The important next step, like linda mentioned, is checking the lymph nodes which should be done along with your wide excision. This procedure is called a sentinel node biopsy. Only if the nodes came back positive would you be stage 3. Hopefully that won't happen. Good luck and let us know how you make out.

The first thing that most people get from the internet is that Melanoma is an automatic death sentence.  As the URL Jim referred you to says.  You have been given a diagnosis (Well partially as of now), BUT you have not received a death sentence.  I was given a stage IV diagnosis  in Feb 2007 and told that stage IV people could not really expect to be here beyond 6 months, if that long. That is statistics.  I am an individual, not a mass that they can assign an accurate statistic to.  P.S.  I AM STILL HERE! 

    You are at the stage that you need to learn and learn from a vigilant standpoint, not a paranoia place.  Low stage people, identified early stand a good chance of being on the good side of the statistics.  You do not have enough data yet to show that you are on the bad side of any statistics.  Hopefully you will just have a lifetime of vigilant watchfulness.  Over 90% of people diagnosed at stage 1 and 2 will do well.  While some do advance, being vigilant keeps many of those going for long times.    

Do get copies of all medical reports, surgical notes and copies of actual scans on disks, scan radiology reports, pathology reports, blood tests.  Hopefully they will not be needed, but can be extremely beneficial if they ever are.  One can learn info from them and by asking questions about them, both from people here and from Melanoma specialists.  There is so much going on in the melanoma field that dermatologists and even general Oncologists stand little chance of keeping fully informed.  Even Melanoma Specialist Oncologists  have problems keeping up with the activity.   

    From the location of your primary, there is close to a 50% chance that your tumors contains the BRAF oncoprotein and DNA mutation.  There has been a targeted drug just approved for this mutation and further work is still being done on this form of melanoma for the future.  Knowing the mutation one has at stage 1 and 2, is useful if there is future spread, one has a starting point for the additional treatment plan to look at for then.  If the Sentential Node is clear you may stay low stage until death from old age!  Be vigilant.

The first thing that most people get from the internet is that Melanoma is an automatic death sentence.  As the URL Jim referred you to says.  You have been given a diagnosis (Well partially as of now), BUT you have not received a death sentence.  I was given a stage IV diagnosis  in Feb 2007 and told that stage IV people could not really expect to be here beyond 6 months, if that long. That is statistics.  I am an individual, not a mass that they can assign an accurate statistic to.  P.S.  I AM STILL HERE! 

    You are at the stage that you need to learn and learn from a vigilant standpoint, not a paranoia place.  Low stage people, identified early stand a good chance of being on the good side of the statistics.  You do not have enough data yet to show that you are on the bad side of any statistics.  Hopefully you will just have a lifetime of vigilant watchfulness.  Over 90% of people diagnosed at stage 1 and 2 will do well.  While some do advance, being vigilant keeps many of those going for long times.    

Do get copies of all medical reports, surgical notes and copies of actual scans on disks, scan radiology reports, pathology reports, blood tests.  Hopefully they will not be needed, but can be extremely beneficial if they ever are.  One can learn info from them and by asking questions about them, both from people here and from Melanoma specialists.  There is so much going on in the melanoma field that dermatologists and even general Oncologists stand little chance of keeping fully informed.  Even Melanoma Specialist Oncologists  have problems keeping up with the activity.   

    From the location of your primary, there is close to a 50% chance that your tumors contains the BRAF oncoprotein and DNA mutation.  There has been a targeted drug just approved for this mutation and further work is still being done on this form of melanoma for the future.  Knowing the mutation one has at stage 1 and 2, is useful if there is future spread, one has a starting point for the additional treatment plan to look at for then.  If the Sentential Node is clear you may stay low stage until death from old age!  Be vigilant.

Hi,

I am very sorry you have to join the club. But as all of people here are saying, nothing can be known for sure, nothing can be expected for sure. Statistics really is a simple 'average' number, which mostly means nothing to an each individual!

I`m sure you`ll get all the needed info from links provided by others. I just wanted to remind you, that this is the moment when you have to be ready to fight (if necessary) and prepare your body for it. I advise you to check for some natural medicine, which would activate your immune system and healthy cells (well, at least my cousin when diagnosed with melanoma stage 2 started to practice virotherapy  which stimulated her immune system in order to be strong enough for chemo). But most importantly, make a good contact with your doctor, cuz you have to be able to ask him/her all the questions you want to know, and you have to be able to trust him/her!

Best of luck!

Hi,

I am very sorry you have to join the club. But as all of people here are saying, nothing can be known for sure, nothing can be expected for sure. Statistics really is a simple 'average' number, which mostly means nothing to an each individual!

I`m sure you`ll get all the needed info from links provided by others. I just wanted to remind you, that this is the moment when you have to be ready to fight (if necessary) and prepare your body for it. I advise you to check for some natural medicine, which would activate your immune system and healthy cells (well, at least my cousin when diagnosed with melanoma stage 2 started to practice virotherapy  which stimulated her immune system in order to be strong enough for chemo). But most importantly, make a good contact with your doctor, cuz you have to be able to ask him/her all the questions you want to know, and you have to be able to trust him/her!

Best of luck!