Melanoma Diagnosis + Waiting = MAJOR ANXIETY

Hi Anp21, my first question is who is your Oncologist and is this person a Melanoma specialist? I am sure others from the forum will give you sound advice but if I am not mistaken with the depth of .59mm a WLE is all that is required at this point. Best Wishes!!! Ed

Hi Anp21, my first question is who is your Oncologist and is this person a Melanoma specialist? I am sure others from the forum will give you sound advice but if I am not mistaken with the depth of .59mm a WLE is all that is required at this point. Best Wishes!!! Ed

Hi Anp21, my first question is who is your Oncologist and is this person a Melanoma specialist? I am sure others from the forum will give you sound advice but if I am not mistaken with the depth of .59mm a WLE is all that is required at this point. Best Wishes!!! Ed

The standard for getting a SLNB starts at 1.00mm and up and it gets considered for .75mm-.99mm depending on other features such as high mitotic rate (which yours is 1 and that is not high). So, to get a SLNB with a .59mm primary, non ulcerated and low mitotic rate, I would be incredibly surprised if there is anything in your lymph nodes. Majority of patients in your situation would only get a WLE and regular skin checks after that. It's a little unnecessarily invasive to do the SLNB, a PET scan is even a bit much, but I would say if you get a PET scan and it comes back clear then there's really no reason for someone with a thin melanoma to be put through the SLNB. Just my thoughts on it. If getting the SLNB helps you feel better about everything and your insurance will pay for it then that's ok, it's totally up to you. Just know that's not typical. 

Hopefully you can get through this anxiety, it's not easy and it's not fun, we definitely understand. Just know that you did catch it early and you're going to be ok. Your son will have you around for a very long time. 

The standard for getting a SLNB starts at 1.00mm and up and it gets considered for .75mm-.99mm depending on other features such as high mitotic rate (which yours is 1 and that is not high). So, to get a SLNB with a .59mm primary, non ulcerated and low mitotic rate, I would be incredibly surprised if there is anything in your lymph nodes. Majority of patients in your situation would only get a WLE and regular skin checks after that. It's a little unnecessarily invasive to do the SLNB, a PET scan is even a bit much, but I would say if you get a PET scan and it comes back clear then there's really no reason for someone with a thin melanoma to be put through the SLNB. Just my thoughts on it. If getting the SLNB helps you feel better about everything and your insurance will pay for it then that's ok, it's totally up to you. Just know that's not typical. 

Hopefully you can get through this anxiety, it's not easy and it's not fun, we definitely understand. Just know that you did catch it early and you're going to be ok. Your son will have you around for a very long time. 

The standard for getting a SLNB starts at 1.00mm and up and it gets considered for .75mm-.99mm depending on other features such as high mitotic rate (which yours is 1 and that is not high). So, to get a SLNB with a .59mm primary, non ulcerated and low mitotic rate, I would be incredibly surprised if there is anything in your lymph nodes. Majority of patients in your situation would only get a WLE and regular skin checks after that. It's a little unnecessarily invasive to do the SLNB, a PET scan is even a bit much, but I would say if you get a PET scan and it comes back clear then there's really no reason for someone with a thin melanoma to be put through the SLNB. Just my thoughts on it. If getting the SLNB helps you feel better about everything and your insurance will pay for it then that's ok, it's totally up to you. Just know that's not typical. 

Hopefully you can get through this anxiety, it's not easy and it's not fun, we definitely understand. Just know that you did catch it early and you're going to be ok. Your son will have you around for a very long time. 

Hello anp21, sorry you have landed here. Having a 10 month old is quite terrifying enough and now this! I am also a melanewbie only about a week further along than you, recovering from my WLE and SNB and waiting for biopsy results and next steps. Ed and Jenn have given good wise info. 

I've done too much reading and scared myself plenty also, but it does sound like you've caught things early and so have good reason to feel confident in a healthy and long future. So many hope filling stories and support an good information are available here. 

I find the following things now help keep the quite normal anxiety manageable (sometimes) for me:

*exercise- endorphins will make you feel so so much better.

*4-7-8 breathing (Google if not familiar)

*eating / cooking healthy food for my family and myself gives me a small sense of "doing" something helpful. 

*staying busy with whatever makes you lose track of time…for me playing violin, going to concerts, work(pharmacy),I play around on tumblr a little

*psalms (I have a few memorized which has come in handy esp 46, 23, 95)

*keeping in mind that prognosis statistics reflect patients diagnosed years ago, and things are really changing with regards to treatments, so don't apply them to yourself.

*keeping in mind that life is uncertain and fragile (and finite) for every human on earth, so all any of us can do is live and love today. 

*reminding myself that I am held by a loving and good God, who cares both for me and those I love and who will be with us all no matter the course this thing takes. 

Praying for your peace, the very best care, and good news!

Grace to you, 

joyce

Hello anp21, sorry you have landed here. Having a 10 month old is quite terrifying enough and now this! I am also a melanewbie only about a week further along than you, recovering from my WLE and SNB and waiting for biopsy results and next steps. Ed and Jenn have given good wise info. 

I've done too much reading and scared myself plenty also, but it does sound like you've caught things early and so have good reason to feel confident in a healthy and long future. So many hope filling stories and support an good information are available here. 

I find the following things now help keep the quite normal anxiety manageable (sometimes) for me:

*exercise- endorphins will make you feel so so much better.

*4-7-8 breathing (Google if not familiar)

*eating / cooking healthy food for my family and myself gives me a small sense of "doing" something helpful. 

*staying busy with whatever makes you lose track of time…for me playing violin, going to concerts, work(pharmacy),I play around on tumblr a little

*psalms (I have a few memorized which has come in handy esp 46, 23, 95)

*keeping in mind that prognosis statistics reflect patients diagnosed years ago, and things are really changing with regards to treatments, so don't apply them to yourself.

*keeping in mind that life is uncertain and fragile (and finite) for every human on earth, so all any of us can do is live and love today. 

*reminding myself that I am held by a loving and good God, who cares both for me and those I love and who will be with us all no matter the course this thing takes. 

Praying for your peace, the very best care, and good news!

Grace to you, 

joyce

Hello anp21, sorry you have landed here. Having a 10 month old is quite terrifying enough and now this! I am also a melanewbie only about a week further along than you, recovering from my WLE and SNB and waiting for biopsy results and next steps. Ed and Jenn have given good wise info. 

I've done too much reading and scared myself plenty also, but it does sound like you've caught things early and so have good reason to feel confident in a healthy and long future. So many hope filling stories and support an good information are available here. 

I find the following things now help keep the quite normal anxiety manageable (sometimes) for me:

*exercise- endorphins will make you feel so so much better.

*4-7-8 breathing (Google if not familiar)

*eating / cooking healthy food for my family and myself gives me a small sense of "doing" something helpful. 

*staying busy with whatever makes you lose track of time…for me playing violin, going to concerts, work(pharmacy),I play around on tumblr a little

*psalms (I have a few memorized which has come in handy esp 46, 23, 95)

*keeping in mind that prognosis statistics reflect patients diagnosed years ago, and things are really changing with regards to treatments, so don't apply them to yourself.

*keeping in mind that life is uncertain and fragile (and finite) for every human on earth, so all any of us can do is live and love today. 

*reminding myself that I am held by a loving and good God, who cares both for me and those I love and who will be with us all no matter the course this thing takes. 

Praying for your peace, the very best care, and good news!

Grace to you, 

joyce

Sorry you had to join us and I totally understand where you are.  Been there, done that, and have the scars to show for it.

With your early stage only a WLE is needed and annual skin checks.  PERIOD.  Any further testing statistically will find more benign junk in your body and expose yourself to radiation and possibly unnecessary surgery.  As hard as it is not to go looking for a needle in the haystack just to feel safe, the risks to do anything more at this time far outweigh the benefits.

You must have good insurance to approve PET/CT for your stage!  You don't have ulceration, a very low mitotic rate, and it is a very shallow tumor.  Monitoring with frequent skin checks is actually the purdent course to take in your case.  Melanoma runs a full spectrum of disease, you are on the luckiest / most optimistic side of that scale even though right now it is terrifiying.

For perspective, my initial diagnosis was 2.06 mm, no ulceration, clark IV, no vascular or lymphatic invasion.  At stage 2A a SNB was called for.  My SNB was negative.  The standard follow up for that depth was actually with a surgical onc. (Most won't see you with your shallow tumor), annual chest x-ray and some blood work.  That was it.

Yes I had a physical every 3 months for the first 2 years, then every 4 months the next, then every 6 months. until 5 years out.  Scans and labs only annually for a tumor that was almost 4x as deep as yours.  No PET/CT, just the SNB.

I hope it puts things into perspective, if anything this is just a warning across the bow to see your derm regularly and become familiar with what is normal on your body.

Easier said then done, but don't freak out too much.  If you progress to stage IV with your report, it would be a rarity and you WILL find those people here on this site.  Don't let that mess with your head.  Janner has a great forum for stage I & II patients that may actually be more comforting for you.

Take care 🙂

Sorry you had to join us and I totally understand where you are.  Been there, done that, and have the scars to show for it.

With your early stage only a WLE is needed and annual skin checks.  PERIOD.  Any further testing statistically will find more benign junk in your body and expose yourself to radiation and possibly unnecessary surgery.  As hard as it is not to go looking for a needle in the haystack just to feel safe, the risks to do anything more at this time far outweigh the benefits.

You must have good insurance to approve PET/CT for your stage!  You don't have ulceration, a very low mitotic rate, and it is a very shallow tumor.  Monitoring with frequent skin checks is actually the purdent course to take in your case.  Melanoma runs a full spectrum of disease, you are on the luckiest / most optimistic side of that scale even though right now it is terrifiying.

For perspective, my initial diagnosis was 2.06 mm, no ulceration, clark IV, no vascular or lymphatic invasion.  At stage 2A a SNB was called for.  My SNB was negative.  The standard follow up for that depth was actually with a surgical onc. (Most won't see you with your shallow tumor), annual chest x-ray and some blood work.  That was it.

Yes I had a physical every 3 months for the first 2 years, then every 4 months the next, then every 6 months. until 5 years out.  Scans and labs only annually for a tumor that was almost 4x as deep as yours.  No PET/CT, just the SNB.

I hope it puts things into perspective, if anything this is just a warning across the bow to see your derm regularly and become familiar with what is normal on your body.

Easier said then done, but don't freak out too much.  If you progress to stage IV with your report, it would be a rarity and you WILL find those people here on this site.  Don't let that mess with your head.  Janner has a great forum for stage I & II patients that may actually be more comforting for you.

Take care 🙂

Sorry you had to join us and I totally understand where you are.  Been there, done that, and have the scars to show for it.

With your early stage only a WLE is needed and annual skin checks.  PERIOD.  Any further testing statistically will find more benign junk in your body and expose yourself to radiation and possibly unnecessary surgery.  As hard as it is not to go looking for a needle in the haystack just to feel safe, the risks to do anything more at this time far outweigh the benefits.

You must have good insurance to approve PET/CT for your stage!  You don't have ulceration, a very low mitotic rate, and it is a very shallow tumor.  Monitoring with frequent skin checks is actually the purdent course to take in your case.  Melanoma runs a full spectrum of disease, you are on the luckiest / most optimistic side of that scale even though right now it is terrifiying.

For perspective, my initial diagnosis was 2.06 mm, no ulceration, clark IV, no vascular or lymphatic invasion.  At stage 2A a SNB was called for.  My SNB was negative.  The standard follow up for that depth was actually with a surgical onc. (Most won't see you with your shallow tumor), annual chest x-ray and some blood work.  That was it.

Yes I had a physical every 3 months for the first 2 years, then every 4 months the next, then every 6 months. until 5 years out.  Scans and labs only annually for a tumor that was almost 4x as deep as yours.  No PET/CT, just the SNB.

I hope it puts things into perspective, if anything this is just a warning across the bow to see your derm regularly and become familiar with what is normal on your body.

Easier said then done, but don't freak out too much.  If you progress to stage IV with your report, it would be a rarity and you WILL find those people here on this site.  Don't let that mess with your head.  Janner has a great forum for stage I & II patients that may actually be more comforting for you.

Take care 🙂

Hi anp21,

I am sorry for all the anxiety and worry you are currently experiencing. However, I have a bit of a different perspective from the advice you have been given. I see no reason NOT to do a sentinel node biopsy. Why not? It is minimally invasive and can be done with the wide excision. That way you will KNOW if there was infiltration to the node or not and will not have to spend your time speculating. Here is an article addressing exactly that: http://chaoticallypreciselifeloveandmelanoma.blogspot.com/2016/03/odds-of-positive-sentinel-node-in.html

The odds are that your node will be negative. The removal of a positive of node will probably NOT improve (or change in any way) your survival. Should you have a positive node….you would then have to decide whether or not to have a complete lymph node disection. Not a terribly clear answer as to what to do on that one. However, having a positive node would change your staging and follow up scans (as well as the reasoning to support the insurance company to pay for them) considerably. If it were me….I would want to know. In fact, 13 years ago…it was me. A superficial lesion, 0.61mm, albeit Clark level 4, and a positive node. 

When you add what we know about women, esp those younger than 40, pregnancy, and melanoma risk….the question becomes espcially redundant. Here's an article with another link within: http://chaoticallypreciselifeloveandmelanoma.blogspot.com/2016/02/women-and-melanoma-risk.html

I do not wish to frighten you. It is much easier to tell someone, 'Oh, you'll be fine!", rather than something they don't want to hear. I just want you to be proactive, armed with the facts that are pertinent to your condition, and allow you to make the best choices for you.  Melanoma doesn't play. You need look at this board only 2 miliseconds to realize that.

Do what you think best. Hold your sweet baby tight. I wish you my best. Celeste

Hi anp21,

I am sorry for all the anxiety and worry you are currently experiencing. However, I have a bit of a different perspective from the advice you have been given. I see no reason NOT to do a sentinel node biopsy. Why not? It is minimally invasive and can be done with the wide excision. That way you will KNOW if there was infiltration to the node or not and will not have to spend your time speculating. Here is an article addressing exactly that: http://chaoticallypreciselifeloveandmelanoma.blogspot.com/2016/03/odds-of-positive-sentinel-node-in.html

The odds are that your node will be negative. The removal of a positive of node will probably NOT improve (or change in any way) your survival. Should you have a positive node….you would then have to decide whether or not to have a complete lymph node disection. Not a terribly clear answer as to what to do on that one. However, having a positive node would change your staging and follow up scans (as well as the reasoning to support the insurance company to pay for them) considerably. If it were me….I would want to know. In fact, 13 years ago…it was me. A superficial lesion, 0.61mm, albeit Clark level 4, and a positive node. 

When you add what we know about women, esp those younger than 40, pregnancy, and melanoma risk….the question becomes espcially redundant. Here's an article with another link within: http://chaoticallypreciselifeloveandmelanoma.blogspot.com/2016/02/women-and-melanoma-risk.html

I do not wish to frighten you. It is much easier to tell someone, 'Oh, you'll be fine!", rather than something they don't want to hear. I just want you to be proactive, armed with the facts that are pertinent to your condition, and allow you to make the best choices for you.  Melanoma doesn't play. You need look at this board only 2 miliseconds to realize that.

Do what you think best. Hold your sweet baby tight. I wish you my best. Celeste

Hi anp21,

I am sorry for all the anxiety and worry you are currently experiencing. However, I have a bit of a different perspective from the advice you have been given. I see no reason NOT to do a sentinel node biopsy. Why not? It is minimally invasive and can be done with the wide excision. That way you will KNOW if there was infiltration to the node or not and will not have to spend your time speculating. Here is an article addressing exactly that: http://chaoticallypreciselifeloveandmelanoma.blogspot.com/2016/03/odds-of-positive-sentinel-node-in.html

The odds are that your node will be negative. The removal of a positive of node will probably NOT improve (or change in any way) your survival. Should you have a positive node….you would then have to decide whether or not to have a complete lymph node disection. Not a terribly clear answer as to what to do on that one. However, having a positive node would change your staging and follow up scans (as well as the reasoning to support the insurance company to pay for them) considerably. If it were me….I would want to know. In fact, 13 years ago…it was me. A superficial lesion, 0.61mm, albeit Clark level 4, and a positive node. 

When you add what we know about women, esp those younger than 40, pregnancy, and melanoma risk….the question becomes espcially redundant. Here's an article with another link within: http://chaoticallypreciselifeloveandmelanoma.blogspot.com/2016/02/women-and-melanoma-risk.html

I do not wish to frighten you. It is much easier to tell someone, 'Oh, you'll be fine!", rather than something they don't want to hear. I just want you to be proactive, armed with the facts that are pertinent to your condition, and allow you to make the best choices for you.  Melanoma doesn't play. You need look at this board only 2 miliseconds to realize that.

Do what you think best. Hold your sweet baby tight. I wish you my best. Celeste

It seems like overtreatment to me. If your insurance covers it and you don't mind undergoing the procedure, then go for it. I personally don't see any clinical rationale for a SLNB for a person with a fully excised stage 1b thin melanoma 0.59. What would be the clinical rationale? There's been a recent study in Australia that shows a definite benefit of SLNB for intermediate thickness or thick melanoma and suggests SLNB as a consideration (not certainly) for high risk thin melanomas. Yours is a thin melanoma, but I don't understand what so high risk about it? It's not >0.75mm, it's not ulcerated and the mitotic rate is not off the charts high.

Here's a link to the study, anyway:

http://www.racgp.org.au/afp/2015/august/sentinel-node-biopsy-should-be-the-standard-of-care-for-patients-with-intermediate-and-thick-melanomas/

I think it's fine if you go ahead, there's nothing to lose. It just seems unnecessary and possibly – even just by suggesting that it's needed – causing you more anxiety that it should.

It seems like overtreatment to me. If your insurance covers it and you don't mind undergoing the procedure, then go for it. I personally don't see any clinical rationale for a SLNB for a person with a fully excised stage 1b thin melanoma 0.59. What would be the clinical rationale? There's been a recent study in Australia that shows a definite benefit of SLNB for intermediate thickness or thick melanoma and suggests SLNB as a consideration (not certainly) for high risk thin melanomas. Yours is a thin melanoma, but I don't understand what so high risk about it? It's not >0.75mm, it's not ulcerated and the mitotic rate is not off the charts high.

Here's a link to the study, anyway:

http://www.racgp.org.au/afp/2015/august/sentinel-node-biopsy-should-be-the-standard-of-care-for-patients-with-intermediate-and-thick-melanomas/

I think it's fine if you go ahead, there's nothing to lose. It just seems unnecessary and possibly – even just by suggesting that it's needed – causing you more anxiety that it should.

It seems like overtreatment to me. If your insurance covers it and you don't mind undergoing the procedure, then go for it. I personally don't see any clinical rationale for a SLNB for a person with a fully excised stage 1b thin melanoma 0.59. What would be the clinical rationale? There's been a recent study in Australia that shows a definite benefit of SLNB for intermediate thickness or thick melanoma and suggests SLNB as a consideration (not certainly) for high risk thin melanomas. Yours is a thin melanoma, but I don't understand what so high risk about it? It's not >0.75mm, it's not ulcerated and the mitotic rate is not off the charts high.

Here's a link to the study, anyway:

http://www.racgp.org.au/afp/2015/august/sentinel-node-biopsy-should-be-the-standard-of-care-for-patients-with-intermediate-and-thick-melanomas/

I think it's fine if you go ahead, there's nothing to lose. It just seems unnecessary and possibly – even just by suggesting that it's needed – causing you more anxiety that it should.

I was diagnosed with stage 1a this summer while in the middle of an IVF cycle. The initial biopsy was .44, no ulceration, mitotic rate of <1. However, it was a punch biopsy of a large mole and since there was still quite a bit of it left they couldn't give me a final stage until the did a complete excision 2 weeks after being diagnosed.

I was very excited about the prospect of finally becoming pregnant and this news, along with the waiting, made me very sad and anxious (I'm sure the extra hormones didn't help :p).

Long story short, we froze 6 embryos and I had a WLE on 07/27. My doctor recommends waiting a least a year to try and become pregnant again. So, that makes me sad. HOWEVER, I am extraordinarily happy to say that there was NO residual tumor in the remaining portion of the lesion and, after a week of recovery from the surgery, life is pretty much back to normal 🙂

I guess all I mean to say is that this is the toughest time for you and I really sympathize with what you're going through. It's not easy. But try to focus on the good parts (baby, husband, good prognosis) and know that no matter what happens this is the worst part, not knowing.

As a side note, I did not have a SLN biopsy or any scans. My doctor is dr. Gastman at the Cleveland Clinic. He is very experienced with melanoma and recently released research on pregnancy acquired melanomas. Once the final path report came back there wasn't even a thought of doing a SLN biopsy.

Hope this helps,

Austine

I was diagnosed with stage 1a this summer while in the middle of an IVF cycle. The initial biopsy was .44, no ulceration, mitotic rate of <1. However, it was a punch biopsy of a large mole and since there was still quite a bit of it left they couldn't give me a final stage until the did a complete excision 2 weeks after being diagnosed.

I was very excited about the prospect of finally becoming pregnant and this news, along with the waiting, made me very sad and anxious (I'm sure the extra hormones didn't help :p).

Long story short, we froze 6 embryos and I had a WLE on 07/27. My doctor recommends waiting a least a year to try and become pregnant again. So, that makes me sad. HOWEVER, I am extraordinarily happy to say that there was NO residual tumor in the remaining portion of the lesion and, after a week of recovery from the surgery, life is pretty much back to normal 🙂

I guess all I mean to say is that this is the toughest time for you and I really sympathize with what you're going through. It's not easy. But try to focus on the good parts (baby, husband, good prognosis) and know that no matter what happens this is the worst part, not knowing.

As a side note, I did not have a SLN biopsy or any scans. My doctor is dr. Gastman at the Cleveland Clinic. He is very experienced with melanoma and recently released research on pregnancy acquired melanomas. Once the final path report came back there wasn't even a thought of doing a SLN biopsy.

Hope this helps,

Austine

I was diagnosed with stage 1a this summer while in the middle of an IVF cycle. The initial biopsy was .44, no ulceration, mitotic rate of <1. However, it was a punch biopsy of a large mole and since there was still quite a bit of it left they couldn't give me a final stage until the did a complete excision 2 weeks after being diagnosed.

I was very excited about the prospect of finally becoming pregnant and this news, along with the waiting, made me very sad and anxious (I'm sure the extra hormones didn't help :p).

Long story short, we froze 6 embryos and I had a WLE on 07/27. My doctor recommends waiting a least a year to try and become pregnant again. So, that makes me sad. HOWEVER, I am extraordinarily happy to say that there was NO residual tumor in the remaining portion of the lesion and, after a week of recovery from the surgery, life is pretty much back to normal 🙂

I guess all I mean to say is that this is the toughest time for you and I really sympathize with what you're going through. It's not easy. But try to focus on the good parts (baby, husband, good prognosis) and know that no matter what happens this is the worst part, not knowing.

As a side note, I did not have a SLN biopsy or any scans. My doctor is dr. Gastman at the Cleveland Clinic. He is very experienced with melanoma and recently released research on pregnancy acquired melanomas. Once the final path report came back there wasn't even a thought of doing a SLN biopsy.

Hope this helps,

Austine

Hi,

Seeing/"having" an oncologist all of a sudden is a pretty freaky thing. Interestingly, a) I never saw an oncologist with two different stage I skin melanomas. And b), I was not given a PET scan for either one. I *did* have SNBs for both. My first melanoma was 1mm deep, the second was 2mm deep.  

Psychologically,m it was an impact on me to have the stage I melanomas. But not as big an impact as it would have been if they had sent me to an oncologist. 

As far as SNB, I'm not a fan of getting surgical procedures that may not be necessary. There is always a risk of infection or other complication. Post-surgery nausea/vomiting is not fun either, which has accompanied every one of mine. At this point I'm happy not to need to get any surgery!!!

I can't advise who you should give more credence to, your oncologist or surgeon. When I've been super concerned about a decision point like this, I've gotten a second opinion. I realize you have two different opinions already, but from two different specialties, surgery vs. oncology.

Good luck on your choices and hopefully this is "one and done", no more. Stats are definitely, way on your side.

Hi,

Seeing/"having" an oncologist all of a sudden is a pretty freaky thing. Interestingly, a) I never saw an oncologist with two different stage I skin melanomas. And b), I was not given a PET scan for either one. I *did* have SNBs for both. My first melanoma was 1mm deep, the second was 2mm deep.  

Psychologically,m it was an impact on me to have the stage I melanomas. But not as big an impact as it would have been if they had sent me to an oncologist. 

As far as SNB, I'm not a fan of getting surgical procedures that may not be necessary. There is always a risk of infection or other complication. Post-surgery nausea/vomiting is not fun either, which has accompanied every one of mine. At this point I'm happy not to need to get any surgery!!!

I can't advise who you should give more credence to, your oncologist or surgeon. When I've been super concerned about a decision point like this, I've gotten a second opinion. I realize you have two different opinions already, but from two different specialties, surgery vs. oncology.

Good luck on your choices and hopefully this is "one and done", no more. Stats are definitely, way on your side.

Hi,

Seeing/"having" an oncologist all of a sudden is a pretty freaky thing. Interestingly, a) I never saw an oncologist with two different stage I skin melanomas. And b), I was not given a PET scan for either one. I *did* have SNBs for both. My first melanoma was 1mm deep, the second was 2mm deep.  

Psychologically,m it was an impact on me to have the stage I melanomas. But not as big an impact as it would have been if they had sent me to an oncologist. 

As far as SNB, I'm not a fan of getting surgical procedures that may not be necessary. There is always a risk of infection or other complication. Post-surgery nausea/vomiting is not fun either, which has accompanied every one of mine. At this point I'm happy not to need to get any surgery!!!

I can't advise who you should give more credence to, your oncologist or surgeon. When I've been super concerned about a decision point like this, I've gotten a second opinion. I realize you have two different opinions already, but from two different specialties, surgery vs. oncology.

Good luck on your choices and hopefully this is "one and done", no more. Stats are definitely, way on your side.

If you want to decrease anxiety, you can use this natural medicine https://www.payspi.org/best-cheap-vape-pens-for-wax-dry-herb-oil/ which really helps