Screening while on treatment.

This topic has 10 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 7 months ago by Ridingaroundwith27Jennifers.

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- September 1, 2018 at 9:25 pm
- Quote
RichInLife2
Participant
I just started treatment and I wonder now if there’s any value at this point in getting regular scans by a dermatologist since I’ll be getting CT and MRI every three months. I know this probably a better question for my oncologist, but it’s the weekend and I figured I’d ask the folks in the trenches.

What are folks doing?

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- - September 1, 2018 at 9:29 pm
  - Quote
  RichInLife2
  Participant
  In the post above I meant “screening by a dermatologist,” not scans. I sure wish there was a way to edit my own posts on this forum.
- - September 2, 2018 at 12:56 am
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  bjeans
  Participant
  My husband is in treatment and sees either his dermatologist or a PA at his melanoma center for a skin check every three months, including photos, scanning with a light, etc. They believe it’s very important; his dermatologist happens to be the director.
- - September 3, 2018 at 4:47 pm
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  MelanomaMike
  Participant
  Hi Rich, id say stick with your Derm Doc, in my experiance, a simple “young” mole that very well could be a Melanoma will not show up in scans..
  - September 3, 2018 at 11:09 pm
    
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    RichInLife2
    Participant
    
    Thanks Mike, I'll probably continue with screenings but with a different dermatologist. The one I had was part of the problem, not the solution.
  - September 3, 2018 at 11:50 pm
    
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    Mark_DC
    Participant
    
    Hi Rich
    
    i tried to write to you yesterday but my post got lost with the captcha
    
    definitely keeping seeing the dermatologist regularly
    
    when i was stage i or ii i became a bit sloppy and missed one of my three month appointments and then something important was missed
    
    i now go every three months, half the time my derm needs to freeze something, keeping in touch with him means that i can see him immediately if something odd pops up – definitely do this
    
    good luck Mark
- - September 5, 2018 at 2:08 am
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  lkb
  Participant
  I was trading off–3 months with my regular derm and 3 months with melanoma derm. In retrospect, I think I should have stayed with the melanoma derm only because I think she would have caught something the regular derm missed. (Basically, my neck dissection scar was always bumpy, which is why my regular derm and I missed the new melanoma bump; it just looked like scar tissue.) Melanoma derm only for me going forward.
  - September 5, 2018 at 1:43 pm
    
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    RichInLife2
    Participant
    
    Hi, how did you find your melanoma derm? As stated above, I am in the market for a new dermatologist.
  - September 11, 2018 at 4:51 pm
    
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    lkb
    Participant
    
    My melanoma derm is part of UCSF's melanoma center where I am treated.
- - September 7, 2018 at 2:02 pm
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  cancersnewnormal
  Participant
  I once posed this question to two top notch melanoma docs after a webinar. They BOTH wholeheartedly agreed that I should continue to see a derm. CT's don't always pick up lesions on or near the skin surface, and radiologists aren't typically looking at that region. They tend to focus more on the internal organs for metastasis. I was getting CT's every 3 months, and ended up having a subcutaneous lesion picked up on a mammogram…. the CT didn't show it.
  
  My derm works at the same cancer center (Norris… it's part of USC) where both my medical and radiation oncologists are. He's in close touch with both docs, and veeeery familiar with my history, as well as the latest updates in trends and treatments for melanoma.
- - September 16, 2018 at 11:07 pm
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  Ridingaroundwith27Jennifers
  Participant
  My oncologist also pushed me to see a derm for yearly screening and I'm stage IV. I had to break up with my derm and see a new one as my original derm refused to biopsy my suspicious lumps and told me to go home and relax. Turned out it was stage IV melanoma. So anyway, I'm getting mole screens yearly at this point. Others may be on different schedules but at least now I'm seeing someone who gets that this is serious.