Terrified and Confused
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Terrified and Confused

› Forums › Cutaneous Melanoma Community › Terrified and Confused

  • Post
    • May 11, 2015 at 6:34 pm
    Gordknight
    Participant

    Hi everyone.  I am in a really shitty spot right now.  If you read my earlier posts I had a 0.22 stage 1a melanoma removed from my neck back in October.  I had the WLE done in November and had my regular checkup a few weeks ago and everything was said to be healing nicely.  However, even one month after the WLE procedure there was one spot on my scar that looked darker than the rest.  Occaisionally some dead skin would be on that spot that I could easily remove.  

    Last night however another piece was there, I pulled it off and it started bleeding.  The spot which almost seems under the skin and not on top of it is darker, almost like a black mole.  I immediately called my derm and he is seeing me Wednesday morning.  I have also just accepted a job for the summer that I leave for on monday morning after my appointment, but if this is my cancer returning I dont know how keeping this job is going to be possible with all the surgery I am sure I will require.

    I am just confused.  I had clear margins  Is is possible that a melanoma that took 3 years to turn into a 1a to come back and grow to this size this fast?  I am just at a loss and feel completely drained and beaten here.  Any advice or help or experience would be most helpful.  Thank you.

Viewing 2 reply threads
  • Replies
      • May 11, 2015 at 8:43 pm
      kpcollins31
      Participant

      Some advice I can offer is this… do not panic and do not try to read ahead. This spot you refer to may very well be nothing but it is good to get it checked out. Just take one step at a time here. You have a job lined up – look forward to that and plan on being there. Even if it turns out to be something, you can still work. Plenty of us have continued working through surgeries so there is no reason to assume otherwise. I am stage 4 and work full time. Try to stay positive.

      Kevin

       

      • May 11, 2015 at 8:43 pm
      kpcollins31
      Participant

      Some advice I can offer is this… do not panic and do not try to read ahead. This spot you refer to may very well be nothing but it is good to get it checked out. Just take one step at a time here. You have a job lined up – look forward to that and plan on being there. Even if it turns out to be something, you can still work. Plenty of us have continued working through surgeries so there is no reason to assume otherwise. I am stage 4 and work full time. Try to stay positive.

      Kevin

       

        • May 11, 2015 at 9:52 pm
        Gordknight
        Participant

        Thanks Kevin.  My ray of hope is that the spot was always darker in the scar from the get go.  I doubt some stray cancer cells go do that within a few weeks.  Also the spot almost appears under my skin than on it if that makes any sense.  Still so hard to not worry.  From the second I got my melanoma diagnosis I have been waiting for the other shoe to drop so to speak.  I feel like it happened.  My hat off to you and everyone else dealing with a more advanced stage of this awful disease.  

        • May 11, 2015 at 9:52 pm
        Gordknight
        Participant

        Thanks Kevin.  My ray of hope is that the spot was always darker in the scar from the get go.  I doubt some stray cancer cells go do that within a few weeks.  Also the spot almost appears under my skin than on it if that makes any sense.  Still so hard to not worry.  From the second I got my melanoma diagnosis I have been waiting for the other shoe to drop so to speak.  I feel like it happened.  My hat off to you and everyone else dealing with a more advanced stage of this awful disease.  

        • May 12, 2015 at 12:54 am
        shookssr
        Participant

        I had a spot come back from my WLE about three months after. It was black and dead center. Turned out to be internal bleeding from a stitch popping.

        • May 12, 2015 at 12:54 am
        shookssr
        Participant

        I had a spot come back from my WLE about three months after. It was black and dead center. Turned out to be internal bleeding from a stitch popping.

        • May 12, 2015 at 12:54 am
        shookssr
        Participant

        I had a spot come back from my WLE about three months after. It was black and dead center. Turned out to be internal bleeding from a stitch popping.

        • May 12, 2015 at 1:35 am
        Gordknight
        Participant

        Right I thought about stitches but I dont think any stitches were used on my WLE.  Just that surgeons glue.

        • May 12, 2015 at 1:35 am
        Gordknight
        Participant

        Right I thought about stitches but I dont think any stitches were used on my WLE.  Just that surgeons glue.

        • May 12, 2015 at 1:35 am
        Gordknight
        Participant

        Right I thought about stitches but I dont think any stitches were used on my WLE.  Just that surgeons glue.

        • May 12, 2015 at 2:46 am
        SusanD713
        Participant

        Hey!! I recently had a WLE on my 1a tumor. They too used surgical glue on the outside but I believe they used stitches on the inside. It's possible you had stitches as well. Good luck! I'm sure it's prob nothing though!

        • May 12, 2015 at 2:46 am
        SusanD713
        Participant

        Hey!! I recently had a WLE on my 1a tumor. They too used surgical glue on the outside but I believe they used stitches on the inside. It's possible you had stitches as well. Good luck! I'm sure it's prob nothing though!

        • May 12, 2015 at 2:46 am
        SusanD713
        Participant

        Hey!! I recently had a WLE on my 1a tumor. They too used surgical glue on the outside but I believe they used stitches on the inside. It's possible you had stitches as well. Good luck! I'm sure it's prob nothing though!

        • May 12, 2015 at 2:48 am
        Janner
        Participant

        You most likely had internal stitches.  They remove tissue down to the muscle fascia and simple glue on the skin wouldn't hold that divot together.  Often times, there are two or three layers of stitches depending on size and anatomy.

        • May 12, 2015 at 5:01 am
        Gordknight
        Participant

        Oh interesting.  I didnt know.  Would it be normal for a stitch not to be disolved and be causing this 5 1/2 months post op?

        • May 12, 2015 at 6:50 pm
        Janner
        Participant

        Yes, it is actually a topic that comes up regularly and 6 months is probably about average based on my memory.  A stitch may present in different ways as you will see if you search for that topic.

        • May 12, 2015 at 8:48 pm
        Gordknight
        Participant

        Thanks Janner and everyone for your replies.  It really helps lessen the stress.  Its just so unerving when the spot is in the exact location on the scar where your melanoma was removed.  I honestly dont know where I would be without this board and the people here.  

        • May 12, 2015 at 8:48 pm
        Gordknight
        Participant

        Thanks Janner and everyone for your replies.  It really helps lessen the stress.  Its just so unerving when the spot is in the exact location on the scar where your melanoma was removed.  I honestly dont know where I would be without this board and the people here.  

        • May 12, 2015 at 8:48 pm
        Gordknight
        Participant

        Thanks Janner and everyone for your replies.  It really helps lessen the stress.  Its just so unerving when the spot is in the exact location on the scar where your melanoma was removed.  I honestly dont know where I would be without this board and the people here.  

        • May 12, 2015 at 11:35 pm
        Gordknight
        Participant

        One other quick question.  Can a biopsy still be taken from a spot that has a scab on it?  After it bled it obviously scabbed up.  Just hoping that its still something that can be removed and biopsied if need be.

        • May 13, 2015 at 12:39 am
        Janner
        Participant

        Your derm will have to determine that.

        • May 13, 2015 at 2:27 pm
        Gordknight
        Participant

        Update:  Saw my awesome derm today.  He removed the scab and underlying skin to be safe, but he said its most likely a sututure rupturing or an allergic reaction or something to that effect.  He said he would be absolutely blown away if it was a recurrence as there was no pigment visible to the naked eye after he removed it and in the last 15 years he has only had one recurrence in a scar area and it was on a lesion far more advanced than mine.  Feel much better now, and also thank you to everyone for your replies.   

        • May 13, 2015 at 2:27 pm
        Gordknight
        Participant

        Update:  Saw my awesome derm today.  He removed the scab and underlying skin to be safe, but he said its most likely a sututure rupturing or an allergic reaction or something to that effect.  He said he would be absolutely blown away if it was a recurrence as there was no pigment visible to the naked eye after he removed it and in the last 15 years he has only had one recurrence in a scar area and it was on a lesion far more advanced than mine.  Feel much better now, and also thank you to everyone for your replies.   

        • May 13, 2015 at 2:27 pm
        Gordknight
        Participant

        Update:  Saw my awesome derm today.  He removed the scab and underlying skin to be safe, but he said its most likely a sututure rupturing or an allergic reaction or something to that effect.  He said he would be absolutely blown away if it was a recurrence as there was no pigment visible to the naked eye after he removed it and in the last 15 years he has only had one recurrence in a scar area and it was on a lesion far more advanced than mine.  Feel much better now, and also thank you to everyone for your replies.   

        • May 13, 2015 at 12:39 am
        Janner
        Participant

        Your derm will have to determine that.

        • May 13, 2015 at 12:39 am
        Janner
        Participant

        Your derm will have to determine that.

        • May 12, 2015 at 11:35 pm
        Gordknight
        Participant

        One other quick question.  Can a biopsy still be taken from a spot that has a scab on it?  After it bled it obviously scabbed up.  Just hoping that its still something that can be removed and biopsied if need be.

        • May 12, 2015 at 11:35 pm
        Gordknight
        Participant

        One other quick question.  Can a biopsy still be taken from a spot that has a scab on it?  After it bled it obviously scabbed up.  Just hoping that its still something that can be removed and biopsied if need be.

        • May 12, 2015 at 6:50 pm
        Janner
        Participant

        Yes, it is actually a topic that comes up regularly and 6 months is probably about average based on my memory.  A stitch may present in different ways as you will see if you search for that topic.

        • May 12, 2015 at 6:50 pm
        Janner
        Participant

        Yes, it is actually a topic that comes up regularly and 6 months is probably about average based on my memory.  A stitch may present in different ways as you will see if you search for that topic.

        • May 12, 2015 at 5:01 am
        Gordknight
        Participant

        Oh interesting.  I didnt know.  Would it be normal for a stitch not to be disolved and be causing this 5 1/2 months post op?

        • May 12, 2015 at 5:01 am
        Gordknight
        Participant

        Oh interesting.  I didnt know.  Would it be normal for a stitch not to be disolved and be causing this 5 1/2 months post op?

        • May 12, 2015 at 2:48 am
        Janner
        Participant

        You most likely had internal stitches.  They remove tissue down to the muscle fascia and simple glue on the skin wouldn't hold that divot together.  Often times, there are two or three layers of stitches depending on size and anatomy.

        • May 12, 2015 at 2:48 am
        Janner
        Participant

        You most likely had internal stitches.  They remove tissue down to the muscle fascia and simple glue on the skin wouldn't hold that divot together.  Often times, there are two or three layers of stitches depending on size and anatomy.

        • May 11, 2015 at 9:52 pm
        Gordknight
        Participant

        Thanks Kevin.  My ray of hope is that the spot was always darker in the scar from the get go.  I doubt some stray cancer cells go do that within a few weeks.  Also the spot almost appears under my skin than on it if that makes any sense.  Still so hard to not worry.  From the second I got my melanoma diagnosis I have been waiting for the other shoe to drop so to speak.  I feel like it happened.  My hat off to you and everyone else dealing with a more advanced stage of this awful disease.  

      • May 11, 2015 at 8:43 pm
      kpcollins31
      Participant

      Some advice I can offer is this… do not panic and do not try to read ahead. This spot you refer to may very well be nothing but it is good to get it checked out. Just take one step at a time here. You have a job lined up – look forward to that and plan on being there. Even if it turns out to be something, you can still work. Plenty of us have continued working through surgeries so there is no reason to assume otherwise. I am stage 4 and work full time. Try to stay positive.

      Kevin

       

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