Hello,
I had a malanoma (mole) in my calf, tumor site operated on January 8th, and they did do a sentinal lymph node biopsy (groin) which turned out positive for cancer cells, and so we go from there. I am told the margin was clear. Then LDH blood test, and the results are "normal". Also, the mitotic rate was "normal".
PET scan on Monday Jan. 29th, results on Thursday Feb. 1st.
PET scan looked good – that is, no problems, nothing lit up. One or two tiny little spots on the lungs, but nothing he was concerned about – no biopsy or anything recommended for the time being. Lymph node was “micrometastatic", and size/depth do not make him want to go in for a CLND (complete lymph node dissection (removal) at groin). Five years ago they would have done it as a matter of routine, but as I wrote about before, they do not see any real improvement in outcome so nothing for now. I’m really happy about that, because a lot of what I’ve read indicates that Lymph node nonsense is almost worse than cancer itself. Well, sort of. So, I’m staged at 3A. So the choice of action is CLND vs Surveillance. We’re feeling certain that surveillance is the right path. This means 1) skin checks with dermatologist every three months, 2) Ultrasound of left groin every 3 months for 1 year to check for node changes, then every 4 months for year 2, then every 6 months for year 3, and 3) CT Scan every 6 months going forward. Of course IF anything pops up along the way, the scheme will change accordingly. He said he thought for someone in my situation there’s a 70% chance that nothing else will come up. Well, and I crazy or is this GREAT news? Yes, every test will have me sweating bullets a bit I suppose, but I'll take this as a good day. So, for today at least, there's only one thing we say to death, "NOT TODAY!!!!"
Am I just being overly optomistic? Or did everybody start off this way?
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