New here… Questions

It's times like these I wish Janner was still here!

I don't think you interpreted your staging correctly.  By what you posted I would say you are staged at T1b which is more simply put stage Ib.  Although no stage of melanoma is good you are in about the best one you can be in.  You did a good job of catching it early.  "Is it still there?"  Theorectically no.  In situ means it was contained in the epidermis and all your margins were clear. 

I'm not going to quote you the statistics because you could tell some people they have a 99.9% chance of survival and they would be freaked out by the .1% chance of not surviving.  You can look up the statistics if you want.  I will say you have an overwhelming chance of never having to deal with this awful disease again.  You can look at this as a wake up call.  Stay vigilant.  Periodic dermatologist checks are great.  Check monthly for swollen lymphnodes in the area of your excision (if it was on your upper back check armpits and neck).  You can also use this event as motivation to get healthier. 

Take comfort in the fact that if melanoma does rear it's ugly head in the future there is real hope now where even just a few years ago there wasn't much.  Most importantly try your best not to worry and go live life to it's fullest.  These types of events can have a way of putting things in perspective and you see how precious life is and don't take it forgranted.

http://www.skincancer.org/skin-cancer-information/melanoma/the-stages-of-melanoma/guide-to-staging-melanoma

It's times like these I wish Janner was still here!

I don't think you interpreted your staging correctly.  By what you posted I would say you are staged at T1b which is more simply put stage Ib.  Although no stage of melanoma is good you are in about the best one you can be in.  You did a good job of catching it early.  "Is it still there?"  Theorectically no.  In situ means it was contained in the epidermis and all your margins were clear. 

I'm not going to quote you the statistics because you could tell some people they have a 99.9% chance of survival and they would be freaked out by the .1% chance of not surviving.  You can look up the statistics if you want.  I will say you have an overwhelming chance of never having to deal with this awful disease again.  You can look at this as a wake up call.  Stay vigilant.  Periodic dermatologist checks are great.  Check monthly for swollen lymphnodes in the area of your excision (if it was on your upper back check armpits and neck).  You can also use this event as motivation to get healthier. 

Take comfort in the fact that if melanoma does rear it's ugly head in the future there is real hope now where even just a few years ago there wasn't much.  Most importantly try your best not to worry and go live life to it's fullest.  These types of events can have a way of putting things in perspective and you see how precious life is and don't take it forgranted.

http://www.skincancer.org/skin-cancer-information/melanoma/the-stages-of-melanoma/guide-to-staging-melanoma

It's times like these I wish Janner was still here!

I don't think you interpreted your staging correctly.  By what you posted I would say you are staged at T1b which is more simply put stage Ib.  Although no stage of melanoma is good you are in about the best one you can be in.  You did a good job of catching it early.  "Is it still there?"  Theorectically no.  In situ means it was contained in the epidermis and all your margins were clear. 

I'm not going to quote you the statistics because you could tell some people they have a 99.9% chance of survival and they would be freaked out by the .1% chance of not surviving.  You can look up the statistics if you want.  I will say you have an overwhelming chance of never having to deal with this awful disease again.  You can look at this as a wake up call.  Stay vigilant.  Periodic dermatologist checks are great.  Check monthly for swollen lymphnodes in the area of your excision (if it was on your upper back check armpits and neck).  You can also use this event as motivation to get healthier. 

Take comfort in the fact that if melanoma does rear it's ugly head in the future there is real hope now where even just a few years ago there wasn't much.  Most importantly try your best not to worry and go live life to it's fullest.  These types of events can have a way of putting things in perspective and you see how precious life is and don't take it forgranted.

http://www.skincancer.org/skin-cancer-information/melanoma/the-stages-of-melanoma/guide-to-staging-melanoma

Hi – Brian has given a great response, maybe I can add to it. Some of your details don't really tally… 0.44mm deep (which is the most important 'measure' of melanoma) puts you at stage 1. You might mean Clark Level III/3, which is a slightly dated way of measuring melanoma but still relevant for thin melanomas like yours. So if it's 0.44mm that's good news – quite a thin melanoma and this by far is the most important thing. Ulcerated is not a good thing, but in such a thin melanoma hopefully it doesn't mean anything. Clark level III is also not good as it means the melanoma has infiltrated through a few levels of your skin. It's surprising for you to have a SLN as that is usually not indicated for a thin melanoma – it's usually only offered for mels  0.75mm and over (or in Australia 1mm and up)/  Anyway, that was clear, so all good. So then you had wide level excision, and that path came back with some melanoma in situ, which means that the original excision wasn't complete and left some behind (an in situ bit). This is absolutely nothing to worry about as long as your surgeon got the recommended margin of healthy skin with the wide level excision. The in situ is the absolute least of your worries, in situ has no metastatic potential and cannot spread as it is contained in the very top layer of skin. However, with melanoma, it's your deepest bit that counts, so regardless of the in situ component, I think like Brian said that you are stage 1 B – stage 1 because of shallow depth 0.44mm, b because of ulceration = stage 1b. Derm appt every 3 month is great, MRI seems over the top but obviously your insurance must cover it. MRI seems totally odd to me but anyway, whatever floats your derms boat. In Australia you would get six monthly skin checks and nothing more. How not to panic – well, if you learn that then please tell me. I also had a 1b melanoma (i've had three – deepest was stage 1b) and I absolutely dread checkups. It gets better over time, that's all I can say.

Hi – Brian has given a great response, maybe I can add to it. Some of your details don't really tally… 0.44mm deep (which is the most important 'measure' of melanoma) puts you at stage 1. You might mean Clark Level III/3, which is a slightly dated way of measuring melanoma but still relevant for thin melanomas like yours. So if it's 0.44mm that's good news – quite a thin melanoma and this by far is the most important thing. Ulcerated is not a good thing, but in such a thin melanoma hopefully it doesn't mean anything. Clark level III is also not good as it means the melanoma has infiltrated through a few levels of your skin. It's surprising for you to have a SLN as that is usually not indicated for a thin melanoma – it's usually only offered for mels  0.75mm and over (or in Australia 1mm and up)/  Anyway, that was clear, so all good. So then you had wide level excision, and that path came back with some melanoma in situ, which means that the original excision wasn't complete and left some behind (an in situ bit). This is absolutely nothing to worry about as long as your surgeon got the recommended margin of healthy skin with the wide level excision. The in situ is the absolute least of your worries, in situ has no metastatic potential and cannot spread as it is contained in the very top layer of skin. However, with melanoma, it's your deepest bit that counts, so regardless of the in situ component, I think like Brian said that you are stage 1 B – stage 1 because of shallow depth 0.44mm, b because of ulceration = stage 1b. Derm appt every 3 month is great, MRI seems over the top but obviously your insurance must cover it. MRI seems totally odd to me but anyway, whatever floats your derms boat. In Australia you would get six monthly skin checks and nothing more. How not to panic – well, if you learn that then please tell me. I also had a 1b melanoma (i've had three – deepest was stage 1b) and I absolutely dread checkups. It gets better over time, that's all I can say.

Hi – Brian has given a great response, maybe I can add to it. Some of your details don't really tally… 0.44mm deep (which is the most important 'measure' of melanoma) puts you at stage 1. You might mean Clark Level III/3, which is a slightly dated way of measuring melanoma but still relevant for thin melanomas like yours. So if it's 0.44mm that's good news – quite a thin melanoma and this by far is the most important thing. Ulcerated is not a good thing, but in such a thin melanoma hopefully it doesn't mean anything. Clark level III is also not good as it means the melanoma has infiltrated through a few levels of your skin. It's surprising for you to have a SLN as that is usually not indicated for a thin melanoma – it's usually only offered for mels  0.75mm and over (or in Australia 1mm and up)/  Anyway, that was clear, so all good. So then you had wide level excision, and that path came back with some melanoma in situ, which means that the original excision wasn't complete and left some behind (an in situ bit). This is absolutely nothing to worry about as long as your surgeon got the recommended margin of healthy skin with the wide level excision. The in situ is the absolute least of your worries, in situ has no metastatic potential and cannot spread as it is contained in the very top layer of skin. However, with melanoma, it's your deepest bit that counts, so regardless of the in situ component, I think like Brian said that you are stage 1 B – stage 1 because of shallow depth 0.44mm, b because of ulceration = stage 1b. Derm appt every 3 month is great, MRI seems over the top but obviously your insurance must cover it. MRI seems totally odd to me but anyway, whatever floats your derms boat. In Australia you would get six monthly skin checks and nothing more. How not to panic – well, if you learn that then please tell me. I also had a 1b melanoma (i've had three – deepest was stage 1b) and I absolutely dread checkups. It gets better over time, that's all I can say.