Confused

On a forum like this you are more likely to read about someone who was first diagnosed stage 1 and some years or so later they are stage 3 or 4. That is not the norm though. With stage 1 you have a very small percentage that melanoma will recur and/or spread to distant areas of your body. It could be that some cells came off the primary tumor and ended up in the blood stream or lymphatic system and were kept in check for a while by one's immune system and eventually it started growing a tumor somewhere when the immune system couldn't control the cancer cells any longer. But, again, that is NOT the norm for stage 1 and after having the WLE you no longer have melanoma which is awesome and you should just be going to your follow up appointments and living life. Don't worry about the what ifs of your future, none of us can predict where we will be a year from now. And there is no reason to spend energy and time worrying about whether melanoma might come back. 

All the best,

On a forum like this you are more likely to read about someone who was first diagnosed stage 1 and some years or so later they are stage 3 or 4. That is not the norm though. With stage 1 you have a very small percentage that melanoma will recur and/or spread to distant areas of your body. It could be that some cells came off the primary tumor and ended up in the blood stream or lymphatic system and were kept in check for a while by one's immune system and eventually it started growing a tumor somewhere when the immune system couldn't control the cancer cells any longer. But, again, that is NOT the norm for stage 1 and after having the WLE you no longer have melanoma which is awesome and you should just be going to your follow up appointments and living life. Don't worry about the what ifs of your future, none of us can predict where we will be a year from now. And there is no reason to spend energy and time worrying about whether melanoma might come back. 

All the best,

On a forum like this you are more likely to read about someone who was first diagnosed stage 1 and some years or so later they are stage 3 or 4. That is not the norm though. With stage 1 you have a very small percentage that melanoma will recur and/or spread to distant areas of your body. It could be that some cells came off the primary tumor and ended up in the blood stream or lymphatic system and were kept in check for a while by one's immune system and eventually it started growing a tumor somewhere when the immune system couldn't control the cancer cells any longer. But, again, that is NOT the norm for stage 1 and after having the WLE you no longer have melanoma which is awesome and you should just be going to your follow up appointments and living life. Don't worry about the what ifs of your future, none of us can predict where we will be a year from now. And there is no reason to spend energy and time worrying about whether melanoma might come back. 

All the best,

Hi btcedarr, I am going to give you acouple of links to videos from MIF, I hope they will help you with understanding the staging process. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrW4UdkCu8I and the second onehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eofW8d4J6sI    Best wishes!!! Ed

Hi btcedarr, I am going to give you acouple of links to videos from MIF, I hope they will help you with understanding the staging process. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrW4UdkCu8I and the second onehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eofW8d4J6sI    Best wishes!!! Ed

Hi btcedarr, I am going to give you acouple of links to videos from MIF, I hope they will help you with understanding the staging process. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrW4UdkCu8I and the second onehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eofW8d4J6sI    Best wishes!!! Ed