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Post surgery complications? Please share your experiences
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Post surgery complications? Please share your experiences

› Forums › Cutaneous Melanoma Community › Post surgery complications? Please share your experiences

  • Post
    • April 11, 2017 at 8:21 pm
    FeelingLonely
    Participant

      My mom was diagnosed with stage 1B Melanoma a month ago. (No ulceration, Breslow-1mm, miotic-1mm, no ulceration). She had a wide excision surgery and biopsy for the diagnosis. They did not remove the margins at the first surgery since it extended closer to the eyes and did another wide excision surgery, went wide and took out the margins. She also had a plastic surgery to reconstruct the area. Her primary is on face, on her right upper cheek, close to the eye/ear area. She had 3 moles on lower legs that were not cancerous but the doctor removed those too as prevention. The scars/stitches look really wide and deep considering how small/minor those normal moles looked like.

      My mom is experiencing the following symptoms since the surgery (its now been 11 days since)

      1. High blood pressure (she is now taking BP meds for it, but BP is in 150/90 range, occasion0ally goes higher)

      2. Swelling on the face and also on lower legs.

      3. Leg cramps.

      4. Shortness of breath

      5. Occasional dizziness.

      6. Flap necrosis

      When I mentioned these to the doc (which is hard because I live in another country and clock), he said those should clear with time, I know he is on vacation and she will be seeing him again this week. My mom is not educated on medical lingo and is naive when it comes to all that. My dad passed away few years ago.

      I just wanted to hear if anyone experienced these after their wide excision surgery or have any inputs in general.

      It's been 11 days since her surgey if that helps.

      Thanks so much for listening to me. ANy advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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    • Replies
        • April 11, 2017 at 9:18 pm
        jennunicorn
        Participant

          A family member of mine also had a primary melanoma on their face close to the eye. He has since had 3 surgeries to try and fix his drooping eye, it's better now, but will never be totally normal. Swelling is normal and it will all take time to heal, a month is not very long. If it was 1.00mm breslow depth, she should have had a sentinel lymph node biopsy. If she has the patholgy report, I would ask her to read exactly what it says for depth. If it does in fact say 1.00mm, then she needs to ask her doctor why they did not perferm a lymph node biopsy. One cannot be done now, it is too late, once the wide local excision has been performed you cannot do a proper/accurate lymph node biopsy. If it was 0.10 then that's a different situation, very shallow, and everything she's had done has been appropriate. Always good to have that detail down, it's very important.

            • April 12, 2017 at 12:34 am
            FeelingLonely
            Participant

              First of all, thank you so much! Bless your heart for writing back to me. I can't tell how much it helps.

              It's very sad that they did not do a SNB, they went for the wide excision surgery the first time she went to see them, we did not have a diagnosis yet. When we did have the wide excision biopsy report is when we were told about the Melanoma, and yes then it was late to have SNB then. I think they just overlooked it and May not have really expected the tumor to have grown is my best assumption. I asked now about SNB – I was told – it isn't really required for the stage 1 melanoma:( a SNB would have given us so much peace of mind and reassurance. Oh well 🙁

              since I live across the globe from my mom, I find it incredibly hard to keep things in order – not able to go to doctor visits with her and be asking these questions. But I am trying to learn as much as I can from kind hearts over here and be of help to my mom in this battle.

              its very relieving to hear some of these symptoms can be normal. I was suspecting Lymphedema (which is still a possibility), pulmonary embolism/hypertension (because of shortness of breath and swelling),

              yes my mom also says the eyes don't feel quite normal. Vision is blurry and feels like something is going on there all the time. Sigh.

              i can't wait to have a little more normalcy in her life.

              from my heart to yours, thank you!

              • April 19, 2017 at 1:42 pm
              MmP15
              Participant
                SNB would have given you peace of mind. Now you can still go for some genetic risk assessment using the excised tumor tissue. Also regular ultrasound to evaluate lymph nodes. Best wishes!
                • April 19, 2017 at 3:10 pm
                FeelingLonely
                Participant

                  I will ask the doctor if that is a possibility. Thanks again.

                  • April 23, 2017 at 2:50 pm
                  MmP15
                  Participant
                    Currently, there are two different tests available that narrow in long term risk based on strength of certain genes measured
                    • April 12, 2017 at 12:35 am
                    FeelingLonely
                    Participant

                      Please forgive my ignorance, but what is a pathology report? How is it different from biopsy report? All I saw so far is the biopsy report. Thanks.

                      • April 12, 2017 at 1:44 am
                      jennunicorn
                      Participant

                        That would be the same thing. 

                        She would not get lymphedema, that only happens when lymph nodes are removed.

                        Hopefully she won't deal with melanoma recurring, all you can do at this point is stay positive.

                        • April 12, 2017 at 1:50 am
                        jennunicorn
                        Participant

                          Since she can't get the SLNB, has she asked about getting a CT scan or at least chest xray and ultrasound of nearest lymph nodes? Shortness of breath is not a normal effect after having skin removed. 

                          • April 12, 2017 at 3:48 am
                          FeelingLonely
                          Participant

                            I think they did a cheat X-ray, i know they did ECG. I am not sure if CT scan though. I will ask mom to ask the doc. She is seeing a cardiologist today to rule out heart related problems (that might lead to shortness of breath and the like), I am hoping it's good news. Not overly worried since the ECG did not show major issues.

                            • April 12, 2017 at 3:45 am
                            FeelingLonely
                            Participant

                              Thanks so much for this info! Internet can be so confusing and I had almost assumed she might have Lymphedema..this is such reassurance! On positive note, mom says she feels a lot better today – less swelling, less lethargic, and breathing feels normal.

                            • April 12, 2017 at 2:43 am
                            miaka618
                            Participant

                              The swelling will take some time to go down. especially with a wide excision. She may also develop some acne along her scars. If they ever do have to go back in for some lymph nodes you can expect possibly paralysis of that side of the face that should improve over time as well as some loss of function of the arm if they take nodes out of her neck. Physical therapy improves that. Those are just a few things to expect if it ever gets to that point.

                                • April 12, 2017 at 3:52 am
                                FeelingLonely
                                Participant

                                  Again great to know! Mom has never really had major health issues before, so she is anxious. So am I since she stays by herself and I am miles and miles away. My  dad passed away quite unexpectedly irrespective of being very healthy and active – so overall we are in an emotional state. I did not know what to make of the swelling and was losing my sleep over it. So relieving to know it can be common and thanks for telling me what to expect with some of these procedures.

                                  hope you are doing well. Take good care! My prayers to you! Hope we all can somehow get through this dark tunnel 🙂

                                • April 13, 2017 at 3:36 am
                                stars
                                Participant

                                  I think that though your mum has had several small surgeries, they are all minor surgeries (even a WLE) and normal post-op care would pick up any issues. The most obvious issue is wound infection and there's no sign of that. I would encourage your mum to attend all post-op appointments for wound care and stitch removal and leave it at that. All other symptoms – swelling, shortness of breath – are highly unlikely to have anything at all to do with a few superficicial skin excisions. These may be anxiety related or perhaps she has developed a heart problem but it's unlikely that any of that is related to these excision. Even a minor excisional biopsy like the legs leaves a roughly 1-2 cm cut/stitches so these things all take time to heal. They might be stopping her from sleeping well and that might be causing some of those other symptoms. I would just encourage her to be vigilant wiht post-op care, visit the doctor separately (not a dermatologist) about any new shortness of breath and go from there.

                                    • April 19, 2017 at 3:09 pm
                                    FeelingLonely
                                    Participant

                                      This is very helpful. Thanks so much!

                                      Mom is doing a lot better. We did have her see a cardiologist. ECHO and ECG looks okay with minor variations. The doc did give her some anxiety meds and also BP meds (to be taken ongoing I guess). All this might have been triggered by anxiety and stress like you called out. She is also 66 , so age maybe another factor.

                                      We will be sure to keep up the post op care as needed. Mom is already doing lot better at this point. Her BP also seems okay, 125-130 in the mornings, 130-140 in evenings or sometimes even less. It might have come down naturally but we stressed out.

                                      Thanks again for all your support. It makes such a difference!

                                       

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