Husband dx with malignant malenoma
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Husband dx with malignant malenoma

› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Husband dx with malignant malenoma

  • Post
    • January 31, 2017 at 8:27 pm
    laurelmarie1558
    Participant
    Husband had a nasty mole on back that didn’t look right. I kept asking him if the doctor was looking at it. (He goes in every 6 months bc of high blood pressure). He said the doctor said it looks fine. He wanted to see what it looked like so I took a pic of it so he could see it. I was on a Facebook group, “grew up in iowa”. There was a thread that said post the last pic u took. That was my husbands mole. Many many people said that mole looks like cancer. So, I plead with him to just get it removed. He did. Came back malignant melanoma. We were shocked. Biopsy report said, 2.5mm,margins involved, mitotic rate 2/mm2. He had a PET scan that came back CLEAR. He had surgery to remove the melanoma and took some lymph nodes out and was told no sign in signigant pathological abnormalities identified. Phew…. now we are seeing a oncologist on Thursday and I am wondering if u have suggestions on what ?’s to ask and if u think that he will want to do any more treatments….
Viewing 8 reply threads
  • Replies
      • January 31, 2017 at 8:46 pm
      Polymath
      Participant

      Hi Laurelmarie,

      It looks as though your husband is in pretty good shape.  Thankfully the melanoma on skin did not spread to lymph nodes, and scans are clear.  Given this, I'm not sure there is a treatment beyond the wide excision surgery he had to get clear margins.  Likely advice will be watch and wait.  Be very vigilant regarding any other suspicious moles and/or lumps in the lymph node areas.  Everyone here will recommend seeing a melanoma specialist for guidance, but in the short-term there may not be any particular treatment recommended.

      Gary

        • January 31, 2017 at 8:53 pm
        laurelmarie1558
        Participant
        Well, that’s good to hear. But, I am still scared. Just read alot about reoccurances happening. How can we be extra vigilant in preventing it from reoccurring. I would guess the malanoma specialist will help with that. Do have to request to see a specialist?
        • January 31, 2017 at 10:40 pm
        jennunicorn
        Participant

        Let us know where you are located and we can help find some locations you can find melanoma specialists, if you have PPO insurance you should be able to just make an appointment and see one without a referral. Like Gary said, since your husband had no spread (yay!) there won't be much offered to him treatment wise but it doesn't hurt to find a specialist and get all questions answered by a doc who truely understands melanoma and all the current research. Would be great if he found a melanoma dermatologist, a derm that deals mainly with skin cancer, so for his regular skin checks he will have someone very informed and ready in case anything comes up that might point to recurrence.

         

        • January 31, 2017 at 10:40 pm
        jennunicorn
        Participant

        Let us know where you are located and we can help find some locations you can find melanoma specialists, if you have PPO insurance you should be able to just make an appointment and see one without a referral. Like Gary said, since your husband had no spread (yay!) there won't be much offered to him treatment wise but it doesn't hurt to find a specialist and get all questions answered by a doc who truely understands melanoma and all the current research. Would be great if he found a melanoma dermatologist, a derm that deals mainly with skin cancer, so for his regular skin checks he will have someone very informed and ready in case anything comes up that might point to recurrence.

         

        • January 31, 2017 at 10:40 pm
        jennunicorn
        Participant

        Let us know where you are located and we can help find some locations you can find melanoma specialists, if you have PPO insurance you should be able to just make an appointment and see one without a referral. Like Gary said, since your husband had no spread (yay!) there won't be much offered to him treatment wise but it doesn't hurt to find a specialist and get all questions answered by a doc who truely understands melanoma and all the current research. Would be great if he found a melanoma dermatologist, a derm that deals mainly with skin cancer, so for his regular skin checks he will have someone very informed and ready in case anything comes up that might point to recurrence.

         

        • January 31, 2017 at 11:09 pm
        youngann
        Participant

        Here's a link to help you find a melanoma specialist in your area.

        https://www.aimatmelanoma.org/living-with-melanoma/find-a-melanoma-specialist/

        Good luck,

        Ann

        • February 1, 2017 at 5:38 am
        laurelmarie1558
        Participant
        Thanks
        • February 1, 2017 at 5:38 am
        laurelmarie1558
        Participant
        Thanks
        • February 1, 2017 at 5:38 am
        laurelmarie1558
        Participant
        Thanks
        • January 31, 2017 at 11:09 pm
        youngann
        Participant

        Here's a link to help you find a melanoma specialist in your area.

        https://www.aimatmelanoma.org/living-with-melanoma/find-a-melanoma-specialist/

        Good luck,

        Ann

        • January 31, 2017 at 11:09 pm
        youngann
        Participant

        Here's a link to help you find a melanoma specialist in your area.

        https://www.aimatmelanoma.org/living-with-melanoma/find-a-melanoma-specialist/

        Good luck,

        Ann

        • January 31, 2017 at 8:53 pm
        laurelmarie1558
        Participant
        Well, that’s good to hear. But, I am still scared. Just read alot about reoccurances happening. How can we be extra vigilant in preventing it from reoccurring. I would guess the malanoma specialist will help with that. Do have to request to see a specialist?
        • January 31, 2017 at 8:53 pm
        laurelmarie1558
        Participant
        Well, that’s good to hear. But, I am still scared. Just read alot about reoccurances happening. How can we be extra vigilant in preventing it from reoccurring. I would guess the malanoma specialist will help with that. Do have to request to see a specialist?
        • February 1, 2017 at 2:51 pm
        laurelmarie1558
        Participant
        Wondering if he should get checked for the BRAFF mutation?
        • February 1, 2017 at 2:51 pm
        laurelmarie1558
        Participant
        Wondering if he should get checked for the BRAFF mutation?
        • February 1, 2017 at 2:51 pm
        laurelmarie1558
        Participant
        Wondering if he should get checked for the BRAFF mutation?
        • February 1, 2017 at 2:52 pm
        laurelmarie1558
        Participant
        Wondering if he should get checked for the BRAFF mutation?
        • February 1, 2017 at 2:52 pm
        laurelmarie1558
        Participant
        Wondering if he should get checked for the BRAFF mutation?
        • February 1, 2017 at 2:52 pm
        laurelmarie1558
        Participant
        Wondering if he should get checked for the BRAFF mutation?
      • January 31, 2017 at 8:46 pm
      Polymath
      Participant

      Hi Laurelmarie,

      It looks as though your husband is in pretty good shape.  Thankfully the melanoma on skin did not spread to lymph nodes, and scans are clear.  Given this, I'm not sure there is a treatment beyond the wide excision surgery he had to get clear margins.  Likely advice will be watch and wait.  Be very vigilant regarding any other suspicious moles and/or lumps in the lymph node areas.  Everyone here will recommend seeing a melanoma specialist for guidance, but in the short-term there may not be any particular treatment recommended.

      Gary

      • January 31, 2017 at 8:46 pm
      Polymath
      Participant

      Hi Laurelmarie,

      It looks as though your husband is in pretty good shape.  Thankfully the melanoma on skin did not spread to lymph nodes, and scans are clear.  Given this, I'm not sure there is a treatment beyond the wide excision surgery he had to get clear margins.  Likely advice will be watch and wait.  Be very vigilant regarding any other suspicious moles and/or lumps in the lymph node areas.  Everyone here will recommend seeing a melanoma specialist for guidance, but in the short-term there may not be any particular treatment recommended.

      Gary

      • February 1, 2017 at 8:43 am
      UBContributor
      Participant

      Most likely nothing else is needed, only watch and wait…may be 2 years may be 20 years, only God knows…

      • February 1, 2017 at 8:43 am
      UBContributor
      Participant

      Most likely nothing else is needed, only watch and wait…may be 2 years may be 20 years, only God knows…

      • February 1, 2017 at 8:43 am
      UBContributor
      Participant

      Most likely nothing else is needed, only watch and wait…may be 2 years may be 20 years, only God knows…

      • February 1, 2017 at 6:15 pm
      Janner
      Participant

      Good luck.  It appears you are stage II and, unfortunately, there aren't really any "treatments" for stage II.  So my questions would be to confirm staging, what his plans would be for followup and monitoring, would he do any periodic scans?  What does the doc think are the next best steps.  Stage II is a tough limbo.  Still at risk for recurrence but no approved treatments.  As for what you can do to prevent recurrence, nothing is PROVEN.  So doing anything that makes you feel better, in control, or just happy are always good plans.

      • February 1, 2017 at 6:15 pm
      Janner
      Participant

      Good luck.  It appears you are stage II and, unfortunately, there aren't really any "treatments" for stage II.  So my questions would be to confirm staging, what his plans would be for followup and monitoring, would he do any periodic scans?  What does the doc think are the next best steps.  Stage II is a tough limbo.  Still at risk for recurrence but no approved treatments.  As for what you can do to prevent recurrence, nothing is PROVEN.  So doing anything that makes you feel better, in control, or just happy are always good plans.

      • February 1, 2017 at 6:15 pm
      Janner
      Participant

      Good luck.  It appears you are stage II and, unfortunately, there aren't really any "treatments" for stage II.  So my questions would be to confirm staging, what his plans would be for followup and monitoring, would he do any periodic scans?  What does the doc think are the next best steps.  Stage II is a tough limbo.  Still at risk for recurrence but no approved treatments.  As for what you can do to prevent recurrence, nothing is PROVEN.  So doing anything that makes you feel better, in control, or just happy are always good plans.

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