› Forums › General Melanoma Community › tiny little black spots in scar
- This topic has 8 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 4 months ago by
mifis.
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- December 15, 2010 at 3:43 am
Hi there,
Hi there,
Some of you may remember me. I was diagnsoed with a melanoma in situon my upper arm in May, had a further excision in June and it came back with atypia at the edges, went for another excision in July which came back still atypical at the edges and was told to "stop worrying about it and get on with my life". Yes, that's a direct quote from the dermatologist! I had a gut feeling not to trust that advice, so went for a 2nd opinion at MSKCC in NYC and had the slides re-read,.Their opinion was that there was still melanoma in situ present so I had a further excision on October 20, much wider, by a different surgeon, and had the slides read twice, inlcuding by the same pathologist at MSKCC. This time it came back with CLEAR MARGINS. Hip hip hooray!
The scar is healing well, about 3" long and quite indented because of the size of the piece of skin that was removed. I went to see the surgeon last Friday for a check-up and he had a quick look at it and we had another long discussion about sunscreen etc. Today, I was checking it out in a mirror (it's hard for me to see because of where it is) and it looks like there's a couple of little dark spots in it. I had my husbnad check it out and he said it looks like little dark pores, like blackheads, or little scabs (but there's no roughness), so of course, I am freaking out thinking that the evil thing has come back.
What should I do? Is it possible for it to come back SO soon and would a re-appearnace manifest this way?
Thanks, Jennifer
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- December 15, 2010 at 4:26 am
Hi Jennifer,Sorry to hear this is still haunting you.
With what I have been through, I have logged nearly 2 feet of scars between my multiple procedures (WLE, SNB, and skin graft donor sites) and I know they can look a bit knarly while they are healing, but I haven’t seen anything quite like you describe.
Two questions for you:
1) Are you sure it isn’t just dried blood?
2) What were the stats from your biopsies?
a) Breslow’s Depth
b) Clark’s Level
c) Ulceration (or not)
d) Mitotic Index (no./ sq. mm)
e) Regression (present or not)
f) Evidence of lymph system invasion (or not)
g) Evidence of vascular system invasion (or not)Best regards,
Mark (Stage 2A) from California -
- December 15, 2010 at 4:26 am
Hi Jennifer,Sorry to hear this is still haunting you.
With what I have been through, I have logged nearly 2 feet of scars between my multiple procedures (WLE, SNB, and skin graft donor sites) and I know they can look a bit knarly while they are healing, but I haven’t seen anything quite like you describe.
Two questions for you:
1) Are you sure it isn’t just dried blood?
2) What were the stats from your biopsies?
a) Breslow’s Depth
b) Clark’s Level
c) Ulceration (or not)
d) Mitotic Index (no./ sq. mm)
e) Regression (present or not)
f) Evidence of lymph system invasion (or not)
g) Evidence of vascular system invasion (or not)Best regards,
Mark (Stage 2A) from California -
- December 15, 2010 at 5:08 am
Most of Mark's questions don't really apply to in situ lesions.
These dots could be nothing, or something. Stitches, dried blood, freckles… I think it unlikely they are new since your last visit, so your doctor probably thought them nothing. I figure you have two options. Either call your doctor or monitor this yourself. If you choose to monitor yourself, I would take as good a photo as you can. Use a macro setting and a high resolution camera. Take the photo in lighting you can duplicate so when you check the lesion, the lighting is the same. Then you can look at the lesion monthly and compare. If you see change, have it biopsied. No change, I probably wouldn't worry. However, you have to do whatever makes YOU comfortable!
Best wishes,
Janner
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- December 15, 2010 at 5:08 am
Most of Mark's questions don't really apply to in situ lesions.
These dots could be nothing, or something. Stitches, dried blood, freckles… I think it unlikely they are new since your last visit, so your doctor probably thought them nothing. I figure you have two options. Either call your doctor or monitor this yourself. If you choose to monitor yourself, I would take as good a photo as you can. Use a macro setting and a high resolution camera. Take the photo in lighting you can duplicate so when you check the lesion, the lighting is the same. Then you can look at the lesion monthly and compare. If you see change, have it biopsied. No change, I probably wouldn't worry. However, you have to do whatever makes YOU comfortable!
Best wishes,
Janner
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- December 15, 2010 at 7:07 pm
Hi Jennifer
They seem to have come back very quickly but if I were you I would get them checked out asap. I had radiation on my leg that resulted in 2nd degree burns ending January what could possibly exist there!…this is after my 2 round of surgeries August/October (corrective)…and then time for healing…by March I was noticing little black spots…yep, it was back. BY the way, dermatologist who runs the melanoma clinic where I go actually said she wouldn't bother biopsing IF I didn't have melanoma!!..good thing she did.
First time around, my surgery after my SND in August was in October 2008..did interferon but stopped when my surgeon (young with eagle eyes and after a dermatologist had o.k'd me as clear at the same time) noticed tiny black spots…that I didn't even see those!!
Please have one biopsied. Val
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- December 15, 2010 at 7:07 pm
Hi Jennifer
They seem to have come back very quickly but if I were you I would get them checked out asap. I had radiation on my leg that resulted in 2nd degree burns ending January what could possibly exist there!…this is after my 2 round of surgeries August/October (corrective)…and then time for healing…by March I was noticing little black spots…yep, it was back. BY the way, dermatologist who runs the melanoma clinic where I go actually said she wouldn't bother biopsing IF I didn't have melanoma!!..good thing she did.
First time around, my surgery after my SND in August was in October 2008..did interferon but stopped when my surgeon (young with eagle eyes and after a dermatologist had o.k'd me as clear at the same time) noticed tiny black spots…that I didn't even see those!!
Please have one biopsied. Val
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