Black Lymph Nodes?

If you’ve had any tattoos the black ink will migrate and stay in the lymph nodes according to my surgeon at mayo. He said that was one of his test questions that he gave to his students. So the answer to your question is it melanoma when the lymph nodes are black? The only person that knows is pathology-no one else including the surgeon knows

Hi Savannah, waiting for results from a SLNB is always hard. I hope that things come back negative and life can get back to a new normal for you!!! However, with melanoma being prepared is always a good thing and there is a series on Onclive that has been coming out over the last few weeks one video at a time, covering the topic of adjuvant treatment. So far 6 different videos have come out and it they cover the subject in great depth, the panel is top notch from the leading hospitals in the US. Here is a link to the page on Onclive! Best Wishes!!! Ed https://www.onclive.com/peer-exchange/advanced-melanoma-paradigms/considerations-for-surgery-in-melanoma

Hi Savannah. 

Our surgeon told us at that melanoma can turn the lymph nodes black when it has spread…with that being said my sons sentinel lymph node was “pink and healthy looking” according to the surgeon and it still tested positive for microscopic melanoma. So unfortunately a clinical assessment by the surgeon is not all that accurate….pathology results are the only true way to know if the melanoma has spread. 

Waiting is the worst part….the not knowing feels like torture. Hang in there!!!! 

Kelly 🙂 

I have unknown primary, so my tale skips all the surface stuff. When I awoke after my first surgery (removal of 4cm supraclavicular node along with the cluster) my surgeon described them as black, and the look on his face made me think he'd found a turd. Evidentally, he hadn't seen any in such condition, and chastized me again for being a smoker. We got on the same page afterwards, and I rewarded him by allowing the removal of a handful of axillary nodes along with a laproscapy to 'look around'. I swear, the recovery from getting blown up with CO2 was the worst of it, I felt like a deboned chicken.

After 4 infusions of ipi 3mg/kg adjuvant, three years later I remain NED. Yee haw.

My oncologist said to me at my first visit "We don't know until we know.  We need to wait for the pathology.  Once we have that then we make a plan."  It was the truth.  They might speculate or give options, if it is X then we start with Y.  My best doctors have been data driven.  They test, they observe, they conclude, and then they act.  The waiting is one of the toughest part.  Waiting for pathology or waiting to have a scan or waiting for the scan results.  You can do this.  Take a breath and know we all wait with you; hoping for the best result.

Good wishes to you,

Jennifer

My lymph nodes were described as pigmented. They tested positive for melanoma. I’ve always interpreted the “pigmented” to mean they were visually different from the surrounding tissue/lymph nodes.