› Forums › Cutaneous Melanoma Community › Lumps and what to do about them
- This topic has 14 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 10 months ago by
JerryfromFauq.
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- June 14, 2011 at 2:34 am
Hi,
I could use some advice. Noticed a lump came up next to my lymph node dissection scar at the bottom on my thigh. There is also another in the groin. I had a Pet/CT last week and it came back with comments about some reactivity most likely due to surgery and that there is a new mass in the groin 2.2 x 2.3 cm, a 1.3 cm rounded low attenuation lesion in the right adductor longus muscle as well as 0.6 cm nodule inferior to this and a 5mm subcutaneous modularity in the incision at the knee (site of melanoma #1).
Hi,
I could use some advice. Noticed a lump came up next to my lymph node dissection scar at the bottom on my thigh. There is also another in the groin. I had a Pet/CT last week and it came back with comments about some reactivity most likely due to surgery and that there is a new mass in the groin 2.2 x 2.3 cm, a 1.3 cm rounded low attenuation lesion in the right adductor longus muscle as well as 0.6 cm nodule inferior to this and a 5mm subcutaneous modularity in the incision at the knee (site of melanoma #1).
On the Pet scan the groin mass has an SUV of 2.8, the second lesion on PET only measures 6mm and has an SUV of 1.6. The area of decreased attenuation in adductor longs muscle is not significantly hypermetabolic. The 5mm area in the knee is less intense than on the prior exam (I didn't see it mentioned on the 1st report. They also see slight activity in the area where melanoma #2 (in situ lesion) was excised. Probably just from the excision.
I called the oncologist and saw him. He didn't sound overly worried as the SUV levels were not very high. He said "see the surgeon" and that they would talk. That was only last Friday and today being Monday they haven't talked yet. I thought the surgeon would stick a needle in and aspirate these lesions today, but he doesn't think that will give him all the info he needs. He wants to talk to the Oncologist and come up with a plan. Of course I'm worried because I can feel both these things and the one that's supposedly 6 mm feels at least 2.5 cm in size. It seems to have come up fast and grown in the last week. Surgeon says surgery on my leg is going to make swelling and lymphedema worse. Tentative plan made to biopsy these areas in surgery. Oncologist thinks 50/50 chance these things are not more melanoma. I don't like those numbers.
I had the month of high dose Interferon previously and finished mid may. My 1st lesion was ulcerated and had a high mitotic rate 10/mm squared.
Do they usually take these lumps out? Or do they leave them in and do systemic treatment? Or do they do both?
My head is spinning. My family is very worried. My husband started crying when talking to my daughter and she is very worried. Also had to tell my daughter about my sister who has breast cancer-actually a large lesion in one breast and having a MRI guided bx on opposite breast tomorrow. So it could be bilateral and she will likely need chemo to shrink the tumor before they can even do surgery. This sucks!
Now of course I need to research treatment. Don't know if my stage has changed. And then there's the whole alphabet soup of genetic markers. How do I find out about those? Because it sounds like you need to know that to know what best treatment is. I'm feeling overwhelmed.
Juiie in Las Vegas
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- June 14, 2011 at 2:53 am
Julie,
Take a deep breath.
I have to tell you about the time I was taking a shower a few months ago and felt a lump on my butt. It was huge! I immediately called my local oncologist and they had me come in. They weren't sure and decided since I had an appointment with my surgeon in a few days to get an opinion. He wasn't sure but said he hadn't seen melanoma present like this. They had me put on warm compresses and watch. Within a week it had shrunk. Who knows what it was but it's gone. The thought is a varicose vein had burst.
You have no choice but to wait until your Doctors speak to each other. If they do remove the lumps, and if they are melanoma, ask for them to have them sent to be tested for the different mutations. They will take over and do this for you!
I've had 6 recurrances so far and have chosen surgery as my treatment. I get the results on the last surgery tomorrow to see if they got clear margins.
Once we have melanoma it's always on our mind as the first thought when there is an issue. It's not always the case. You might ask your Dr. for either a CT ,ultra sound or an MRI to see if they can see a distinctive lump.
Let us know what the plan is, remember, you do have a say in the plan. If your not sure of what to do, have them explain what they want to do and why. The plan needs to make sense to you.
I'm sorry that your also going through your sisters illness. Sometimes it seems as if things get piled on us all at once.
Linda
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- June 15, 2011 at 2:37 pm
Julie,
When I was at the surgeon's yesterday I finally got a copy of my last PET/Ct (it was not finished the last time I wasat the oncologist and was a wet read). The suv for my latest mel was 2.6. I'm shocked that they had reacted so quickly – it might have been because I was complaining of pain – it was on the ulnar nerve. My point is that the final biopsy was mel with a low suv rating. Tell the Dr you want your lumps checked out.
Linda
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- June 15, 2011 at 2:37 pm
Julie,
When I was at the surgeon's yesterday I finally got a copy of my last PET/Ct (it was not finished the last time I wasat the oncologist and was a wet read). The suv for my latest mel was 2.6. I'm shocked that they had reacted so quickly – it might have been because I was complaining of pain – it was on the ulnar nerve. My point is that the final biopsy was mel with a low suv rating. Tell the Dr you want your lumps checked out.
Linda
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- June 14, 2011 at 2:53 am
Julie,
Take a deep breath.
I have to tell you about the time I was taking a shower a few months ago and felt a lump on my butt. It was huge! I immediately called my local oncologist and they had me come in. They weren't sure and decided since I had an appointment with my surgeon in a few days to get an opinion. He wasn't sure but said he hadn't seen melanoma present like this. They had me put on warm compresses and watch. Within a week it had shrunk. Who knows what it was but it's gone. The thought is a varicose vein had burst.
You have no choice but to wait until your Doctors speak to each other. If they do remove the lumps, and if they are melanoma, ask for them to have them sent to be tested for the different mutations. They will take over and do this for you!
I've had 6 recurrances so far and have chosen surgery as my treatment. I get the results on the last surgery tomorrow to see if they got clear margins.
Once we have melanoma it's always on our mind as the first thought when there is an issue. It's not always the case. You might ask your Dr. for either a CT ,ultra sound or an MRI to see if they can see a distinctive lump.
Let us know what the plan is, remember, you do have a say in the plan. If your not sure of what to do, have them explain what they want to do and why. The plan needs to make sense to you.
I'm sorry that your also going through your sisters illness. Sometimes it seems as if things get piled on us all at once.
Linda
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- June 14, 2011 at 11:49 am
It is impossible to be certain if a new lump is melanoma without a biopsy. Therefore,
it is good that there is a tentative plan to do this. PET scans are designed to show areas
of high metabolic activity, but not all of these will necessarily be due to cancer.Surgery and local radiation treatment are usually the best ways to deal with any new
melanoma lesion. Systemic treatment may follow, depending on the oncologist's assessment
of the situation.Melanoma challenges the patient and their loved ones. Everyone in this forum knows how
difficult this situation is. Remember that we are here to help. Sorry to read about your
sister's breast cancer. Hopefully her treatment will be successful.Genetic markers are simply determined by testing the tumour. There are a number of
treatment options available, and some people have had very good outcomes. Please be aware
that things might not be quite as bad as they may appear, and there are reasons to remain
optimistic.Hope this helps
Frank from Australia
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- June 14, 2011 at 11:49 am
It is impossible to be certain if a new lump is melanoma without a biopsy. Therefore,
it is good that there is a tentative plan to do this. PET scans are designed to show areas
of high metabolic activity, but not all of these will necessarily be due to cancer.Surgery and local radiation treatment are usually the best ways to deal with any new
melanoma lesion. Systemic treatment may follow, depending on the oncologist's assessment
of the situation.Melanoma challenges the patient and their loved ones. Everyone in this forum knows how
difficult this situation is. Remember that we are here to help. Sorry to read about your
sister's breast cancer. Hopefully her treatment will be successful.Genetic markers are simply determined by testing the tumour. There are a number of
treatment options available, and some people have had very good outcomes. Please be aware
that things might not be quite as bad as they may appear, and there are reasons to remain
optimistic.Hope this helps
Frank from Australia
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- June 15, 2011 at 6:58 am
Julie, not to cause you to panic, but do be sure. I will tell you my story. I had a new tumor appear very near the original site (7 months later). PET scans did not find it. Oncological Surgeon removed it at my request at the same time as he did the groin nodes removal.. It was mel.
One of the groin nodes was ulcerated. Extra material was removed, until no abnormal cells could be detected. I was notified of the location and kept a close watch on it (not being paranoid, but watchful). .After two years being "essential stable" on IL-2, the innumerable lung tumors went wild with both innumerable new and rapidly growing lung tumors. Before the new lung growths were found I felt a new lump in my groin (very near the original groin lymph node scar.), it grew rapidly. The GP tried antibiotics which did not reduce it. A PET scan was run which found nothing wrong, (IE zero uptake in that location.) My Medical Onco saw no concern since there was no SUV uptake. I made my own appointment with my Oncological surgeon, he examined it and since it was in an easily accessible area near the surface, Took it out that same day after seeing his last two patients! (Using a local pain killer) I got to watch part of it! I was shown the black tumor and the surgeon and I were sure it was indeed a melanoma. The Lab agreed.
A new CT scan found the innumerable new lung tumors. (that was 2 years ago). Glad I didn't wait and that my medical Onc followed up very quickly from that point own. One of the main points of this is that while PET scans and the reader often bring out worrisome non-tumorous spots, they can olso miss soft tissue locations that have not yet developed a network blood supply to get the glucose to such a tumor. I took the rate of growth to say "GET IT OUT".
Wish I had been wrong, but I weren't. Due to my Oncologist stepping outside his normal box and researching information I had learned from a lady I met here and Dr Wen Jen Hwu (MD Anderson) who visited our INOVA melanoma supporty group, I am still here and doing fair with the Melanoma.
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- June 15, 2011 at 5:37 pm
i guess my first action would be to insist on a biopsy(s)…i was told by my onc surgeon that medical oncs want to treat the mel with drugs, radiation oncs want to zap and surgeons want to cut…and cutting is the first line of defense if the tumors are
1. easy to get at
2.not a bunch of them…
boots
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- June 15, 2011 at 6:13 pm
There is some truth to those tendencies. However Charlie S is a good example of having a surgeon that will will provide drugs if Charlie believes some are best for him. My surical Oncoloist is the one that referred me to my Medical Oncologist. While still on drugs, as of yestereday I was referred back to th3 Surgicql Oncologist for a near surgery for the new lum. Surgery on my lungs are impossible due to the number and spread locations. Mine work well together and greatly complement each other. The local Radiologist were the o nly ones that I felt were overboard for their own speciality.
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- June 15, 2011 at 6:13 pm
There is some truth to those tendencies. However Charlie S is a good example of having a surgeon that will will provide drugs if Charlie believes some are best for him. My surical Oncoloist is the one that referred me to my Medical Oncologist. While still on drugs, as of yestereday I was referred back to th3 Surgicql Oncologist for a near surgery for the new lum. Surgery on my lungs are impossible due to the number and spread locations. Mine work well together and greatly complement each other. The local Radiologist were the o nly ones that I felt were overboard for their own speciality.
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- June 15, 2011 at 5:37 pm
i guess my first action would be to insist on a biopsy(s)…i was told by my onc surgeon that medical oncs want to treat the mel with drugs, radiation oncs want to zap and surgeons want to cut…and cutting is the first line of defense if the tumors are
1. easy to get at
2.not a bunch of them…
boots
-
- June 15, 2011 at 6:58 am
Julie, not to cause you to panic, but do be sure. I will tell you my story. I had a new tumor appear very near the original site (7 months later). PET scans did not find it. Oncological Surgeon removed it at my request at the same time as he did the groin nodes removal.. It was mel.
One of the groin nodes was ulcerated. Extra material was removed, until no abnormal cells could be detected. I was notified of the location and kept a close watch on it (not being paranoid, but watchful). .After two years being "essential stable" on IL-2, the innumerable lung tumors went wild with both innumerable new and rapidly growing lung tumors. Before the new lung growths were found I felt a new lump in my groin (very near the original groin lymph node scar.), it grew rapidly. The GP tried antibiotics which did not reduce it. A PET scan was run which found nothing wrong, (IE zero uptake in that location.) My Medical Onco saw no concern since there was no SUV uptake. I made my own appointment with my Oncological surgeon, he examined it and since it was in an easily accessible area near the surface, Took it out that same day after seeing his last two patients! (Using a local pain killer) I got to watch part of it! I was shown the black tumor and the surgeon and I were sure it was indeed a melanoma. The Lab agreed.
A new CT scan found the innumerable new lung tumors. (that was 2 years ago). Glad I didn't wait and that my medical Onc followed up very quickly from that point own. One of the main points of this is that while PET scans and the reader often bring out worrisome non-tumorous spots, they can olso miss soft tissue locations that have not yet developed a network blood supply to get the glucose to such a tumor. I took the rate of growth to say "GET IT OUT".
Wish I had been wrong, but I weren't. Due to my Oncologist stepping outside his normal box and researching information I had learned from a lady I met here and Dr Wen Jen Hwu (MD Anderson) who visited our INOVA melanoma supporty group, I am still here and doing fair with the Melanoma.
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Tagged: cutaneous melanoma
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