Hey Everyone!
I am a 28 y/o male who was recently diagnosed with melanoma in situ. My mole was on my stomach and was growing for about 3+ years (pics confirmed). It was about 1cm squared in size. I had it biopsied and came back as in situ “non invasive”. I had my wide local excision 2 weeks ago and healing up now.
Still waiting to hear results of the surrounding skin/excision to confirm the original biopsy result. The nurse I called at the surgeons office said at a glance it looks like they got it all. I habe a followup booked with the surgeon in 2 weeks. I don’t know if that means “got it all and its still an in situ diagnosis” or could mean “got it all in the excision” (could be stage 1 or 2?).
I went back to the derm around the time of my excision surgery and had him biopsy 2 more moles. They both also grew a lot upon reviewing older pictures. Both are also on my trunk area, sort of near my confirmed melanoma. I still have a ton of other atypical moles that look exactly like the one that came back positive. They are smaller, but same exact colour and shape etc. My derm never asked to do a full body exam even after the original diagnosis. I had to ask him to remove the other two that he did. Again, I have others that remain on my body all over.
My main concern right now is that I have had very noticeable dull, constant pain in my abdomen (first noticed pain/fullness feeling about 5 months ago), and a recently discovered lump right around where I think the pain is coming from. The lump is pea-sized, between my ab muscles and my skin. Its a clearly felt lump, no question. I am unsure if that is what is causing my pain but it is RIGHT where I feel the pain and also right next to where the mole was removed.
I am terrified that it could be a swollen lymph node from stage 3 melanoma. So I had 2 ultrasounds done that found no other reason for the pain. No mention of swollen lymph node. Which is weird, because I can 100% feel a hardish lump… so what is it??
I am now booked for a CT scan in the next few days.
My question is simple – could this be melanoma even though the confirmed mole was shown to be “in situ” and thin by he pathologist? Is there still a chance it spread? Maybe it had spread from one of the other moles in the area that are currently being reviewed?
Any knowledge on this would be appreciated. I feel lost and concerned.
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