Bruise

Just because you don't remember hitting your leg doesn't mean you didn't do it or that it is anything other than a normal bruise.  So, what I do for things like this is give it a chance to heal.  In a weeks time, you should see it fading or turning yellow/green.  By two weeks, it would most likely be gone.  Put a reminder on the calendar to check in 2 weeks.  Don't give it another thought until then.  If it has healed or is healing, then it Is exactly what it appeared to be.  If it is the same or worse, then time to get a professional opinion.  Most things really are benign. And if you leave them alone to heal on their own, they usually do.  Look for the most likely explanation first.  Then look for zebras.  In your case, melanoma is the zebra.

Just because you don't remember hitting your leg doesn't mean you didn't do it or that it is anything other than a normal bruise.  So, what I do for things like this is give it a chance to heal.  In a weeks time, you should see it fading or turning yellow/green.  By two weeks, it would most likely be gone.  Put a reminder on the calendar to check in 2 weeks.  Don't give it another thought until then.  If it has healed or is healing, then it Is exactly what it appeared to be.  If it is the same or worse, then time to get a professional opinion.  Most things really are benign. And if you leave them alone to heal on their own, they usually do.  Look for the most likely explanation first.  Then look for zebras.  In your case, melanoma is the zebra.

Just because you don't remember hitting your leg doesn't mean you didn't do it or that it is anything other than a normal bruise.  So, what I do for things like this is give it a chance to heal.  In a weeks time, you should see it fading or turning yellow/green.  By two weeks, it would most likely be gone.  Put a reminder on the calendar to check in 2 weeks.  Don't give it another thought until then.  If it has healed or is healing, then it Is exactly what it appeared to be.  If it is the same or worse, then time to get a professional opinion.  Most things really are benign. And if you leave them alone to heal on their own, they usually do.  Look for the most likely explanation first.  Then look for zebras.  In your case, melanoma is the zebra.

I am forever hitting my calf on the dishwasher when the door is open.  I'll know it at the time, and then forget it until two days later when I have a bruise and it's really sore!  You probably hit yours and didn't pay much attention at the time.  

I am forever hitting my calf on the dishwasher when the door is open.  I'll know it at the time, and then forget it until two days later when I have a bruise and it's really sore!  You probably hit yours and didn't pay much attention at the time.  

I am forever hitting my calf on the dishwasher when the door is open.  I'll know it at the time, and then forget it until two days later when I have a bruise and it's really sore!  You probably hit yours and didn't pay much attention at the time.  

As a stage IV patient I have had a large variety of presentations of mets. Last summer while on Yervoy I definitely had mets "appear" along with bruises- sometimes very large, very painful ones. However, with all of them, in a week or so the inflammation (bruising and pain) began to subside and left behind the very firm metastatic nodule that felt much smaller than it had before when all the inflammation was in a sense "puffing it up". I would have to agree with the previous posters about giving it some time and watching what happens. It's really hard to do- I know from experience. It's really tempting to look at it, feel it every day or even multiple times a day to see if it's growning or not, but really try hard to ignore it and at MOST check it just once a week. Any more frequent than that and you won't have allowed enough time to pass to be able to tell if anything changed and you'll just be making guesses and freaking yourself out. Change (either growing or shrinking) is what's important- If it's shrinking and the bruising is going away Great! Nothing to worry about. If the inflammation goes away but the thing is still there and firm, or it gets bigger- see a doctor. 

Best of luck to you

As a stage IV patient I have had a large variety of presentations of mets. Last summer while on Yervoy I definitely had mets "appear" along with bruises- sometimes very large, very painful ones. However, with all of them, in a week or so the inflammation (bruising and pain) began to subside and left behind the very firm metastatic nodule that felt much smaller than it had before when all the inflammation was in a sense "puffing it up". I would have to agree with the previous posters about giving it some time and watching what happens. It's really hard to do- I know from experience. It's really tempting to look at it, feel it every day or even multiple times a day to see if it's growning or not, but really try hard to ignore it and at MOST check it just once a week. Any more frequent than that and you won't have allowed enough time to pass to be able to tell if anything changed and you'll just be making guesses and freaking yourself out. Change (either growing or shrinking) is what's important- If it's shrinking and the bruising is going away Great! Nothing to worry about. If the inflammation goes away but the thing is still there and firm, or it gets bigger- see a doctor. 

Best of luck to you

As a stage IV patient I have had a large variety of presentations of mets. Last summer while on Yervoy I definitely had mets "appear" along with bruises- sometimes very large, very painful ones. However, with all of them, in a week or so the inflammation (bruising and pain) began to subside and left behind the very firm metastatic nodule that felt much smaller than it had before when all the inflammation was in a sense "puffing it up". I would have to agree with the previous posters about giving it some time and watching what happens. It's really hard to do- I know from experience. It's really tempting to look at it, feel it every day or even multiple times a day to see if it's growning or not, but really try hard to ignore it and at MOST check it just once a week. Any more frequent than that and you won't have allowed enough time to pass to be able to tell if anything changed and you'll just be making guesses and freaking yourself out. Change (either growing or shrinking) is what's important- If it's shrinking and the bruising is going away Great! Nothing to worry about. If the inflammation goes away but the thing is still there and firm, or it gets bigger- see a doctor. 

Best of luck to you