› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Help :)
- This topic has 9 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 8 years ago by
HopefulOne.
- Post
-
- April 25, 2016 at 6:57 pm
I was diagnosed in May 2012 with melanoma at 23 years old and 6 months pregnant with my second daughter. I went to what they call a salud clinic which is a half priced clinic in my opinion. The doctor for one, had his nurse Call me to tell me I had melanoma but she knew nothing! I couldn't even talk to the doctor himself! And she called me on a Friday at almost 5 pm! I saw a surgeon that following Monday he never even told me a stage. Saw an oncologist and he didn't explain much of anything. I had a local wide excision as well as sentinel node biopsy done July 2012 and it came back clear. I have just been seeing a dermatologist regularly. Until one day I heard of someone that it reoccurred in after 5 years. Now I'm like what!!! Was I supposed to be getting yearly pet scans and blood work?! Nobody said anything. My original melanoma was a 1.1 mm with a mitosis rate of 1 per 2. I don't even know what stage that would have been!!! Help!
- Replies
-
-
- April 25, 2016 at 9:01 pm
Based on the thickness and the fact that there was no lymph node involvement, that'd be Stage 1.. but if there was ulceration that would change it a bit I believe. Don't worry too much, with a low stage you would just have regular dermatologist check ups, nothing more. Blood work would show nothing and scans would be unnecessary exposure to radiation for such a low stage. They should have scanned you before or after your surgery, to be thorough, but wouldn't need regular scans after that.
There is always that small chance of recurrence, but at lower stages it is very much in your favor that it could never come back. Just be aware of any new or changing things on your skin and take care of them if needed. Try not to stress about a possible recurrence, you can't predict the future, you can only live for today and today you are healthy and alive and have a very good chance of never dealing with melanoma again.
I am sorry you had a crappy experience with doctors through this, that never makes us feel good about anything. But, you can't change that now. You're doing everything you can and that's all you can do.
All the best,
-
- April 25, 2016 at 9:01 pm
Based on the thickness and the fact that there was no lymph node involvement, that'd be Stage 1.. but if there was ulceration that would change it a bit I believe. Don't worry too much, with a low stage you would just have regular dermatologist check ups, nothing more. Blood work would show nothing and scans would be unnecessary exposure to radiation for such a low stage. They should have scanned you before or after your surgery, to be thorough, but wouldn't need regular scans after that.
There is always that small chance of recurrence, but at lower stages it is very much in your favor that it could never come back. Just be aware of any new or changing things on your skin and take care of them if needed. Try not to stress about a possible recurrence, you can't predict the future, you can only live for today and today you are healthy and alive and have a very good chance of never dealing with melanoma again.
I am sorry you had a crappy experience with doctors through this, that never makes us feel good about anything. But, you can't change that now. You're doing everything you can and that's all you can do.
All the best,
-
- April 25, 2016 at 9:01 pm
Based on the thickness and the fact that there was no lymph node involvement, that'd be Stage 1.. but if there was ulceration that would change it a bit I believe. Don't worry too much, with a low stage you would just have regular dermatologist check ups, nothing more. Blood work would show nothing and scans would be unnecessary exposure to radiation for such a low stage. They should have scanned you before or after your surgery, to be thorough, but wouldn't need regular scans after that.
There is always that small chance of recurrence, but at lower stages it is very much in your favor that it could never come back. Just be aware of any new or changing things on your skin and take care of them if needed. Try not to stress about a possible recurrence, you can't predict the future, you can only live for today and today you are healthy and alive and have a very good chance of never dealing with melanoma again.
I am sorry you had a crappy experience with doctors through this, that never makes us feel good about anything. But, you can't change that now. You're doing everything you can and that's all you can do.
All the best,
-
- April 25, 2016 at 10:31 pm
You are stage 1b if you had no ulceration, stage 2a if you had ulceration. No scans are done (even baseline) for early stages. Blood work is of questionable value as there are no specific melanoma markers. Regular derm visits are what you should be doing, nothing more. Melanoma can come back many years later, but it is the rare exception and not the norm. There is no guarantee once you pass five to ten years but the longer you go, the better your odds.
Janner
stage 1b since 1992, 3 melanoma primaries
-
- April 27, 2016 at 1:11 am
Hi there,
Sorry to hear about your story.
Here is my husband's: 18 years after having melanoma cut off his shoulder, it retuned.
He went to the dermatologist every year. But what we didn't know was that it was already lurking beneath the skin. It came back with a vegenance and he was then Stage 3C. Seven months after that, Stage 4. One thing I promised myself was to share this story so that others know to at least have the conversation with their doctor. Maybe insurance won't pay for it and maybe it's too small a percentage of people who would benefit from additional scanning but … it's worth knowing that a dermatologist just checking moles won't see cancer inside you.
I don't say this to scare you or anyone. But to say follow your instincts and talk to your doctor about your concerns.
Best of luck to you.
Kimberly
-
- April 27, 2016 at 1:11 am
Hi there,
Sorry to hear about your story.
Here is my husband's: 18 years after having melanoma cut off his shoulder, it retuned.
He went to the dermatologist every year. But what we didn't know was that it was already lurking beneath the skin. It came back with a vegenance and he was then Stage 3C. Seven months after that, Stage 4. One thing I promised myself was to share this story so that others know to at least have the conversation with their doctor. Maybe insurance won't pay for it and maybe it's too small a percentage of people who would benefit from additional scanning but … it's worth knowing that a dermatologist just checking moles won't see cancer inside you.
I don't say this to scare you or anyone. But to say follow your instincts and talk to your doctor about your concerns.
Best of luck to you.
Kimberly
-
- April 27, 2016 at 1:11 am
Hi there,
Sorry to hear about your story.
Here is my husband's: 18 years after having melanoma cut off his shoulder, it retuned.
He went to the dermatologist every year. But what we didn't know was that it was already lurking beneath the skin. It came back with a vegenance and he was then Stage 3C. Seven months after that, Stage 4. One thing I promised myself was to share this story so that others know to at least have the conversation with their doctor. Maybe insurance won't pay for it and maybe it's too small a percentage of people who would benefit from additional scanning but … it's worth knowing that a dermatologist just checking moles won't see cancer inside you.
I don't say this to scare you or anyone. But to say follow your instincts and talk to your doctor about your concerns.
Best of luck to you.
Kimberly
-
- April 25, 2016 at 10:31 pm
You are stage 1b if you had no ulceration, stage 2a if you had ulceration. No scans are done (even baseline) for early stages. Blood work is of questionable value as there are no specific melanoma markers. Regular derm visits are what you should be doing, nothing more. Melanoma can come back many years later, but it is the rare exception and not the norm. There is no guarantee once you pass five to ten years but the longer you go, the better your odds.
Janner
stage 1b since 1992, 3 melanoma primaries
-
- April 25, 2016 at 10:31 pm
You are stage 1b if you had no ulceration, stage 2a if you had ulceration. No scans are done (even baseline) for early stages. Blood work is of questionable value as there are no specific melanoma markers. Regular derm visits are what you should be doing, nothing more. Melanoma can come back many years later, but it is the rare exception and not the norm. There is no guarantee once you pass five to ten years but the longer you go, the better your odds.
Janner
stage 1b since 1992, 3 melanoma primaries
-
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.