Post-melanoma paranoia?

Hello to everyone on this thread. Last night, I was thinking about writing about this topic because I had a 1A mole that was excised last year at this time. Since that time, I've been pretty obsessive about my moles because I have a lot of dysplastic nevi. But I also hesitated to post this just because so many people on this site have advanced melanoma, and I didn't want to insult anyone.

Here's the deal — take pictures of your body parts overall and moles in particular. I purchased Molescope to keep track of them, and I find it to be somewhat helpful, but even better is just taking pictures of the overall body parts so I can count the moles and see if they've changed much from month to month. Look for changes in your moles and for new moles, but don't bother doing that more than once every 3 weeks to a month. One's skin changes from day to day.  I was been freaking out over every thing, and I was sure I had a recurrance in my scar with a raised area with a slight change in color. It was actually  a stich that reared itself through my scar. The point is that skin is a living, dynamic thing — the largest organ in/on our body. It's going to have little changes here and there. And when you're 25, you're definitely still getting new moles.

The keys are to photograph, look for change, don't tan, and use sunscreen all the time — including your hands/feet when they might be exposed (i.e., driving). 

Since most people who have had a melanoma never progress and never develop another one, the people who are on this site are the exceptions/anomolies, not the norm for 1As  (sorry — don't need to offend anyone). That said, I stay on here because I teach science writing, and the way I personally deal with something that disturbs me is by gaining more knowledge, and the people on this board are extremely knowledgeable. So — in the highly unlikely case I ever do progress — I know what to expect. But, from now on — on each NED (no evidence of disease) anniversary — I shall post an update that I'm still NED to reassure all of us 1A people who do worry as I have. Yesterday was my 1 year anniversary with no melanoma. With each quarterly check, I feel more comfortable — the anxiety ebbs and flows — but it will get better. You will be fine. Live your life. Take care of yourself.

All the best!

Erika

And to add on a little bit — I've had 3 biopsies that were not melanoma, and my scars don't heal well. I'm not pleased with how I look with these biopsy scars. That's part of what keeps me from freaking out too much — knowing that the change needs to be pretty obvious to risk having another nasty scar.

I would love it if some research money could go toward finding some other way of identifying melanoma other than biopsy. I don't want to look like Swiss cheese.

Thank you for the message.  I too am taking the same path as you have done.  If I have a recurrence or second primary, I want to know what to expect.