Newly diagnosed in situ-but need a CT scan

You can rest easy by remembering (if you didn't already know) that in situ mels have no access to blood or lymph vessels, therefore they have no way of spreading, which is why once it gets removed that's it for that guy. Also, something that might help ease your mind about whatever was seen on xray of your chest, is that is the one place in all bodies that weird stuff will show up. A lot of us on here are used to mysterious lung spots showing up. My oncologist once told me (after some spots showed up in my lungs) that you could scan 100 healthy people and at least half of them would have some small benign spots in their lungs. And, mine disappeared after a few months. Have one bad cold, and boom, there's a spot on a lung.. things like that. 

All the best,

I can relate well to your position because I was diagnosed the same as you were in January but then the dyspastic nevi turned out to be a 2nd mm. I felt a fear that paralized my thinking for about two weeks, but it has passed now. I didn't go for any xrays, but the dermatologist has recommended biopsy of another 3 sites.

I came out of the initial extreme anxiety when I took to heart the fact that worry never cured anything, in fact it causes stress which doesn't inhibit cancer, so its really the wrong thing to be doing. I find  it is helpful to just focus on next steps, for you that's the xray, for me its the next round of biopsies, but try not to think past that because whatever happens next can't be addressed until the results are in, and then it will be under the advice of knowledgable experts who already know far more than i can read on line. Just be sure to be in the hands of an expert your trust and the best one for your situation that you can find.  

Everyone's out look and philosophy is going to differ, what makes sense to one of us won't make sense to all of us. For me, I feel that life and good health is not a right, it is a gift and the gift you get is the luck of the draw. Nobody can take the future for granted, disease especially cancer comes out of left field and blind sides us, the 53  years I've had have been great, I think about all that Im proud of and all that I've enjoyed. I don't know if I'm genetically predispoed to mm and that it will be what takes me out and I don't know when. Mine was caught early, it might mean I stand in a good position in this battle or I could get the worse possible news in 2 or 3 years that it has leaped ahead without warning. But the only thing I can do for that is to learn as much as I can about mm, follow the treatment options others have taken, gain from thier experience and get informed and in the meantime enjoy every day I get that is mine to enjoy, count my blessings, live, love, laugh and forgive becuase my time here might be shorter than I had anticiapted, so, I sure won't be wasting time worrying when I need to be enjoying myself and others.

One of the biggest blessings to count is that mm is no longer a death sentence, advances are happening before our very eyes that are making people NED, there has been magnificent progress in the past 20 years, imagine what another 10 or 20 will bring! I am incredibly thankful for this and all the time, money and effort that so many invest to march on towards a cure.

Welcome to the board from another "newbie". I have found this forum to be invaluable for information and support! My situation is different, but I think our reactions are very similar. You are already getting some really good advice from the previous two posts. If I can offer anything to the discussion it is perhaps reiterating that anxiety and concern are normal but don't let them consume you. Do you best to live life each day and each moment.

I did what you did when I was first diagnosed, I told no one (after all, why worry them if it all turns out to be easily treated) but I'm not sure this was the best approach. I found that once I did tell them (after all, its kind of hard to hide surgery and extended trips out of town) it was helpful for me also. Sure, they were concerned but they were also a HUGE support system that wanted to help if they could. This place is great and people in here understand this better than anyone. Many people here are as knowledgeable as the doctors who treat it because they have lived it and have done extensive research, nonetheless follow your doctor's advice and if you are in doubt get another opinion, information is priceless.

I think this is a unique process in some respects for everyone, but also shares many similiarities since we are all human. I completely agree with the posts above. Even if this turns out to be something more than you thought, this is a very different landscape than it was even 5 years ago. There are options, there are treatments! Hoping for the very best for you, and please, try to live in the moment even when anxiety rears it ugly head. Find things you like doing or that you havent done in awhile to give your brain a break!

B

If you are gonna have a mm then in-situ is the best by far. Cure rate approaches 100% . You will scare yourself reading here about those less fortunate than you Count  your blessings and spend your free time learning how to spot and recognize early suspicious lesions you might have in the future. Study and know the moles/lesions you have now so you will recognize future changes early on. Any of us who have had an in-situ (two for me so far) are very lucky and should be better prepared to spot new ones. That spot on the scan is highly unlikely to be related to your in-situ. Impossible? No. Likely? No.