MRF-Logo2019-Horizontal-RGB
Upcoming surgery. What should I expect?!
REGISTER
The information on this site is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Content within the patient forum is user-generated and has not been reviewed by medical professionals. Other sections of the Melanoma Research Foundation website include information that has been reviewed by medical professionals as appropriate. All medical decisions should be made in consultation with your doctor or other qualified medical professional.

Upcoming surgery. What should I expect?!

› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Upcoming surgery. What should I expect?!

  • Post
    • June 28, 2017 at 12:35 am
    cammeronwall
    Participant

      Hi, 

      i pray everyone is doing very well. I'm having my melanoma removed this Friday. (WLE) along with the sentinel node biopsy and skin graft. The surgeon said the melanoma is quite deep. 3.15mm+…. how painful is recovery? The melanoma is on my right temple. They're using the standard 2cm perimeter so I was advised there is a small possibility of nerve damage. Skin will be taken from behind my ear or near bottom of my neck. All MRI/PET scans were clear so I assume the node biopsy should be negative?? 

    Viewing 3 reply threads
    • Replies
        • June 28, 2017 at 2:01 am
        Janner
        Participant

          Unfortunately, you can't assume anything.  MRI and PET do not catch microscopic disease – that is why the SNB is done.  It looks at the tissue in finer detail.  Recovery differs with everyone.  Yours is in a sensitive area, however it's not in a weight bearing or area with lots of motion.  Those can make things worse.  Nerve damage can be skin deep (can happen during any surgery) but that area might have other nerves and issues which I assume your doctor discussed. 

          • June 28, 2017 at 2:13 am
          jennunicorn
          Participant

            Is a plastic surgeon doing the surgery, or at least the WLE and skin graft part? Anything on the face is very sensitive and requires someone who does facial surgery often to lessen the chance of major nerve damage. My uncle had melanoma in situ (very shallow, stage 0) removed from a similar area on his face, was not done by a plastic surgeon, and his eye on that side became very droopy. He's had 3 more surgeries by a plastic surgeon to help repair his eye, it'll never be the same. It is good your scans were clear, but microscopic cells would not show on a scan so just don't be too surprised if a little melanoma is found in the SLNB. Hoping for the best for your surgery and recovery.

              • June 28, 2017 at 6:34 am
              cammeronwall
              Participant

                Hi, an oncology surgeon is doing the WLE and the plastic surgeon will be in there with him ready to do his part and skin graft 

              • June 28, 2017 at 2:21 am
              miaka618
              Participant
                It was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. The skin graft is a bitch though. The dressing is sewn onto your head to hold the graft in place for at least a week. You can’t get it wet, so showering is a challenge. Yes you will have nerve damage. If the surgeon is careful, you should still have full function of the face, if not, your smile will be crooked for a while, but it does come back. Your right eyebrow will become immobile and your ear will become permanently numb, at least part of it. It will feel like you are sleeping on a pile of rocks for a while if you like to sleep on your right side. Your face will be swollen for about a month. It will also feel like you have tape stuck to the side of your face for quite some time because of all the severed nerves. You will have a lot of nerve pain for a while (like a jabbing pain that goes away right away) You may also get first bite syndrome. It’s like that feeling you get after biting into a lemon, only with all food. Sometimes even thinking of food will do it. All of this gets better with time.
                Honestly the neck dissection was much worse because I couldn’t even turn my head for a week and I could no longer lift my right arm. Hopefully your nodes will all be clear and you won’t even have to worry about that.
                Oh and the tracer they inject to find the sentinel nodes is kind of painful because it is right in your temple. I teared up a bit for that one.

                All in all I would say the pain is quite manageable because everything is numb anyway. I only took the pain meds a couple of days.

                Good luck to you!

                  • June 28, 2017 at 2:23 am
                  miaka618
                  Participant
                    Obviously this is my experience. Yours may not be exactly the same.
                    • June 28, 2017 at 6:37 am
                    cammeronwall
                    Participant

                      Wow! Thank you very much. I had no idea, that really helped. I have an almost two year old so maybe it won't be too bad coming home. He's a mommas boy and loves to be held. 

                      • June 28, 2017 at 11:23 am
                      miaka618
                      Participant
                        Yeah, just try to keep his hands off the graft. It’s not a fun ball to play with. Haha! When I first got mine, my eyebrow was pointing up in a Vulcan fashion. I thought it looked pretty cool actually. It’s back to normal now. Boo.
                        Hopefully your surgeon is good. I had surgery in the same area again earlier this year from a different surgeon, and he did a much better job avoiding the facial nerve. I like my smile and want to keep it! 😀

                        Your little man will still get plenty of momma time. He will just have to be careful with her for a bit.

                      • June 30, 2017 at 10:18 pm
                      Captain Serious
                      Participant

                        Can others identify with a 3.15+ mm growth being excised with 2cm perimeter? I might be mistaken, but that sounds like a modest excision.

                          • June 30, 2017 at 10:34 pm
                          jennunicorn
                          Participant

                            As far as I know, 2cm is the largest margin excised as standard of care for lesions 2mm and up, there isn't a larger margin standard outside of that and would be up to the discresion of the surgeon to take more, but there aren't any studies proving that taking more is better.

                      Viewing 3 reply threads
                      • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
                      About the MRF Patient Forum

                      The MRF Patient Forum is the oldest and largest online community of people affected by melanoma. It is designed to provide peer support and information to caregivers, patients, family and friends. There is no better place to discuss different parts of your journey with this cancer and find the friends and support resources to make that journey more bearable.

                      The information on the forum is open and accessible to everyone. To add a new topic or to post a reply, you must be a registered user. Please note that you will be able to post both topics and replies anonymously even though you are logged in. All posts must abide by MRF posting policies.

                      Popular Topics