Is there anyone who has chosen not to have surgery on face?

I do know of someone who had a somewhat deeper melanoma on his neck.  He chose no additional surgery.  No extra margins – just alternative treatments.  He made it 5 years (I believe) before melanoma took him.  This means absolutely nothing in your case as everyone is different, but I am pointing out what could be a reality.  Surgical removal of melanoma in situ with margins is considered a "cure".  There is no other cure for melanoma at this point.  And if it goes deeper, margins will need to be bigger later. Get more opinions, talk to other doctors.  But please, don't just ignore.

I do know of someone who had a somewhat deeper melanoma on his neck.  He chose no additional surgery.  No extra margins – just alternative treatments.  He made it 5 years (I believe) before melanoma took him.  This means absolutely nothing in your case as everyone is different, but I am pointing out what could be a reality.  Surgical removal of melanoma in situ with margins is considered a "cure".  There is no other cure for melanoma at this point.  And if it goes deeper, margins will need to be bigger later. Get more opinions, talk to other doctors.  But please, don't just ignore.

I do know of someone who had a somewhat deeper melanoma on his neck.  He chose no additional surgery.  No extra margins – just alternative treatments.  He made it 5 years (I believe) before melanoma took him.  This means absolutely nothing in your case as everyone is different, but I am pointing out what could be a reality.  Surgical removal of melanoma in situ with margins is considered a "cure".  There is no other cure for melanoma at this point.  And if it goes deeper, margins will need to be bigger later. Get more opinions, talk to other doctors.  But please, don't just ignore.

Frankly, I'd rather be alive than pretty.  If I were in your position, I'd tell the surgeon to take the nostril now and to sort out the reconstruction details later.  Plastic surgeons are very good, by the way!  I suspect you will appear as though you received some injury to your nose, but it won't look horrific by any means.

There are a number of people who put their faith in God and turn away medicine.  They do not live very long.  I do not personally believe in a god, but I offer you this thought:  If there is a god, then maybe the way he or she is tossing you a lifeline is by giving you a good surgeon and the benefit of centuries of medical acumen.  Right?  As they say, "God works in mysterious ways."

IF you decide not to remove the tumor (which in my estimation would be an incredibly bad decision) then see if you can get into a T-VEC trial.  Your tumor would be injected with an oncolytic virus that would hopefully destroy it and immunize you against any residual melanoma cells.  But the most effective treatment by far is what your surgeon is suggesting.

Before you decide such a thing, look here:

http://www.newyorkfacialplasticsurgery.com/facialreconstructivesurgery.htm

Personally, I think the results are incredibly good — not "model" perfect, but incredibly good.

Frankly, I'd rather be alive than pretty.  If I were in your position, I'd tell the surgeon to take the nostril now and to sort out the reconstruction details later.  Plastic surgeons are very good, by the way!  I suspect you will appear as though you received some injury to your nose, but it won't look horrific by any means.

There are a number of people who put their faith in God and turn away medicine.  They do not live very long.  I do not personally believe in a god, but I offer you this thought:  If there is a god, then maybe the way he or she is tossing you a lifeline is by giving you a good surgeon and the benefit of centuries of medical acumen.  Right?  As they say, "God works in mysterious ways."

IF you decide not to remove the tumor (which in my estimation would be an incredibly bad decision) then see if you can get into a T-VEC trial.  Your tumor would be injected with an oncolytic virus that would hopefully destroy it and immunize you against any residual melanoma cells.  But the most effective treatment by far is what your surgeon is suggesting.

Before you decide such a thing, look here:

http://www.newyorkfacialplasticsurgery.com/facialreconstructivesurgery.htm

Personally, I think the results are incredibly good — not "model" perfect, but incredibly good.

Frankly, I'd rather be alive than pretty.  If I were in your position, I'd tell the surgeon to take the nostril now and to sort out the reconstruction details later.  Plastic surgeons are very good, by the way!  I suspect you will appear as though you received some injury to your nose, but it won't look horrific by any means.

There are a number of people who put their faith in God and turn away medicine.  They do not live very long.  I do not personally believe in a god, but I offer you this thought:  If there is a god, then maybe the way he or she is tossing you a lifeline is by giving you a good surgeon and the benefit of centuries of medical acumen.  Right?  As they say, "God works in mysterious ways."

IF you decide not to remove the tumor (which in my estimation would be an incredibly bad decision) then see if you can get into a T-VEC trial.  Your tumor would be injected with an oncolytic virus that would hopefully destroy it and immunize you against any residual melanoma cells.  But the most effective treatment by far is what your surgeon is suggesting.

Before you decide such a thing, look here:

http://www.newyorkfacialplasticsurgery.com/facialreconstructivesurgery.htm

Personally, I think the results are incredibly good — not "model" perfect, but incredibly good.

I had melanoma in situ on my calf.  My mole was 4 mm – very small.  It required a wide local excision, has left a prominent scar, suture marks and "divot" which will hopefully fade and fill in with time.   I am also a younger, very healthy and active person like you.  I couldn't wait to get this incredibly horrible cancer off of my skin and out of my life – it doesn't belong there!  I consider myself SO lucky that I am *only* dealing with a STAGE 0 malignant lesion, which with a surgical procedure, removed the melanoma completely from my body.  I hope I do not come off as patronizing, but spend a bit of time reading about the potential consequences of deeper melanomas and some of the struggles reflected in the stories published here on MRF – once you do that, I believe that a Mohs and reconstruction will begin to look like a darn good choice even if it will leave some potential scarring.  Also consider that God may have already had your back when the doctor found your cancer at a curable stage, especially since you couldn't even see it!  I know this diagnosis is a shocking one and the Mohs seems extreme, but you really are a very fortunate person to have caught this earlier rather than later.  You have the best choice for treatment in front of you right now.

I had melanoma in situ on my calf.  My mole was 4 mm – very small.  It required a wide local excision, has left a prominent scar, suture marks and "divot" which will hopefully fade and fill in with time.   I am also a younger, very healthy and active person like you.  I couldn't wait to get this incredibly horrible cancer off of my skin and out of my life – it doesn't belong there!  I consider myself SO lucky that I am *only* dealing with a STAGE 0 malignant lesion, which with a surgical procedure, removed the melanoma completely from my body.  I hope I do not come off as patronizing, but spend a bit of time reading about the potential consequences of deeper melanomas and some of the struggles reflected in the stories published here on MRF – once you do that, I believe that a Mohs and reconstruction will begin to look like a darn good choice even if it will leave some potential scarring.  Also consider that God may have already had your back when the doctor found your cancer at a curable stage, especially since you couldn't even see it!  I know this diagnosis is a shocking one and the Mohs seems extreme, but you really are a very fortunate person to have caught this earlier rather than later.  You have the best choice for treatment in front of you right now.

I had melanoma in situ on my calf.  My mole was 4 mm – very small.  It required a wide local excision, has left a prominent scar, suture marks and "divot" which will hopefully fade and fill in with time.   I am also a younger, very healthy and active person like you.  I couldn't wait to get this incredibly horrible cancer off of my skin and out of my life – it doesn't belong there!  I consider myself SO lucky that I am *only* dealing with a STAGE 0 malignant lesion, which with a surgical procedure, removed the melanoma completely from my body.  I hope I do not come off as patronizing, but spend a bit of time reading about the potential consequences of deeper melanomas and some of the struggles reflected in the stories published here on MRF – once you do that, I believe that a Mohs and reconstruction will begin to look like a darn good choice even if it will leave some potential scarring.  Also consider that God may have already had your back when the doctor found your cancer at a curable stage, especially since you couldn't even see it!  I know this diagnosis is a shocking one and the Mohs seems extreme, but you really are a very fortunate person to have caught this earlier rather than later.  You have the best choice for treatment in front of you right now.

Finding melanoma in situ is the best possible news if you have melanoma.  If u let it go, you are taking a huge risk.  If you want a second opinion, go get it….however, this is nothing to ignore. Ask specifics about the reconstruction and ask for a consult with the plastic/reconstruction surgeon.  

Goid luck!

Finding melanoma in situ is the best possible news if you have melanoma.  If u let it go, you are taking a huge risk.  If you want a second opinion, go get it….however, this is nothing to ignore. Ask specifics about the reconstruction and ask for a consult with the plastic/reconstruction surgeon.  

Goid luck!

Finding melanoma in situ is the best possible news if you have melanoma.  If u let it go, you are taking a huge risk.  If you want a second opinion, go get it….however, this is nothing to ignore. Ask specifics about the reconstruction and ask for a consult with the plastic/reconstruction surgeon.  

Goid luck!

Hi

It's a huge shock being diagnosed with melanoma, but in situ is the absolute best diagnosis. A 0.5mm margin of clean, healthy skin must be excised – which, as you can imagine, is hard to do in the nostril area. As far as I know, Mohs can be done on a facial melanoma (see:

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/815468

but you would need an experienced surgeon. Because it's only in situ, maybe Mohs is the best compromise between getting it excised AND avoiding extensive and/or disfiguring surgery. Going back each day is the least of your worries with melanoma. That said, you would be amazed how well the face heals – it has a great blood supply and heals quickly and cleanly, so with a good surgeon even the more invasive procedure would probably work out just fine for you. Leaving the melanoma margins on your skin is not an option from my point of view. There's too much at stake.

Hi

It's a huge shock being diagnosed with melanoma, but in situ is the absolute best diagnosis. A 0.5mm margin of clean, healthy skin must be excised – which, as you can imagine, is hard to do in the nostril area. As far as I know, Mohs can be done on a facial melanoma (see:

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/815468

but you would need an experienced surgeon. Because it's only in situ, maybe Mohs is the best compromise between getting it excised AND avoiding extensive and/or disfiguring surgery. Going back each day is the least of your worries with melanoma. That said, you would be amazed how well the face heals – it has a great blood supply and heals quickly and cleanly, so with a good surgeon even the more invasive procedure would probably work out just fine for you. Leaving the melanoma margins on your skin is not an option from my point of view. There's too much at stake.

Hi

It's a huge shock being diagnosed with melanoma, but in situ is the absolute best diagnosis. A 0.5mm margin of clean, healthy skin must be excised – which, as you can imagine, is hard to do in the nostril area. As far as I know, Mohs can be done on a facial melanoma (see:

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/815468

but you would need an experienced surgeon. Because it's only in situ, maybe Mohs is the best compromise between getting it excised AND avoiding extensive and/or disfiguring surgery. Going back each day is the least of your worries with melanoma. That said, you would be amazed how well the face heals – it has a great blood supply and heals quickly and cleanly, so with a good surgeon even the more invasive procedure would probably work out just fine for you. Leaving the melanoma margins on your skin is not an option from my point of view. There's too much at stake.

I don't blame you for being hesitant, that sounds really aggressive. I would get another opinion at least that way you will know it is your only option.

Mine was not on my face, but a very inconvenient spot on my finger. Imagine my shock when the first two surgical oncologists I met with wanted to take not one but TWO fingers.  I was 28 with a new baby and they wanted to amputate two fingers.  It was so unbelievable, however I was never dealing with in situ and I knew I had to do whatever needed to be done.  Being in Chicago I was lucky enough to have access to several well respected opinions and finally met with a medical oncologist that thought the idea of amputating two fingers was unnecessary.  They were not able to achieve the protocol margins, but were able to get pretty darn close and that was good enough for the oncologist and of course me.  

I actually had family members that were upset with me for not amputating my fingers because they didn't think was being aggressive enough.  It's just not that straightforward.  Seek another opinion and make the best decision you can. 

I don't blame you for being hesitant, that sounds really aggressive. I would get another opinion at least that way you will know it is your only option.

Mine was not on my face, but a very inconvenient spot on my finger. Imagine my shock when the first two surgical oncologists I met with wanted to take not one but TWO fingers.  I was 28 with a new baby and they wanted to amputate two fingers.  It was so unbelievable, however I was never dealing with in situ and I knew I had to do whatever needed to be done.  Being in Chicago I was lucky enough to have access to several well respected opinions and finally met with a medical oncologist that thought the idea of amputating two fingers was unnecessary.  They were not able to achieve the protocol margins, but were able to get pretty darn close and that was good enough for the oncologist and of course me.  

I actually had family members that were upset with me for not amputating my fingers because they didn't think was being aggressive enough.  It's just not that straightforward.  Seek another opinion and make the best decision you can. 

I don't blame you for being hesitant, that sounds really aggressive. I would get another opinion at least that way you will know it is your only option.

Mine was not on my face, but a very inconvenient spot on my finger. Imagine my shock when the first two surgical oncologists I met with wanted to take not one but TWO fingers.  I was 28 with a new baby and they wanted to amputate two fingers.  It was so unbelievable, however I was never dealing with in situ and I knew I had to do whatever needed to be done.  Being in Chicago I was lucky enough to have access to several well respected opinions and finally met with a medical oncologist that thought the idea of amputating two fingers was unnecessary.  They were not able to achieve the protocol margins, but were able to get pretty darn close and that was good enough for the oncologist and of course me.  

I actually had family members that were upset with me for not amputating my fingers because they didn't think was being aggressive enough.  It's just not that straightforward.  Seek another opinion and make the best decision you can. 

You may want to research "Black Salve"  I have seen pictures of it's miracles!

You may want to research "Black Salve"  I have seen pictures of it's miracles!

You may want to research "Black Salve"  I have seen pictures of it's miracles!