boatski

I’m sure someone with a lot more knowledge than myself will chime in. Until then Lung melanoma can look like anything. My understanding is that it is more likely to be a single met rather than multiple, but that’s by no means a rule. I recently had ground glass nodules that they considered as a possibility of melanoma but it didn’t turn out to be the case. I guess mets are more likely to be solid than semi transparent(I.e., ground glass). Most of the example images show it as round or oval but that’s probably just more likely than a rule. The terrible thing about melanoma is there are basically no rules. That said, I’ve had lots of scares and none have turned out to be metastasis. Hopefully your follow ups will provide good news!

I had mel on my ear and had lymph nodes removed from my neck. The injection stung, but didn’t last long at all. My experience was not what I was expecting at all. With all the nerves being moved around I didnt experience any pain at all post operation. Just numbness that has taken almost a year for most of it to go away. I never even took a pain killer despite having a prescription for one. Only took advil for swelling. Hard to forecast, but good luck, the waiting was the most difficult part of the journey for me.

Hey,

Sorry you are going through this. I can understand the nerves – I was diagnosed about 8 months ago. I will say that my condition was likely much worse than yours and I’m still doing fine :). I’m not a doctor, so I may not have everything right. I’m sure someone will explain better than I, but typically we see depth as a big factor in risk. mine was around 3.5mm, and yours looks to be at least .9. No ulceration is very good (mine was). Also no lymphovascular invasion is also good – it means they can’t detect any melanoma cells in the lymphatic vessels next to your melanoma I believe ( also had this, which is bad haha). Pernieural invasion is kinda like lymphvascular invasion, but for nearby neurons(I believe). Finally, tumor regression is interesting. I don’t think we have any answer of whether it is good or bad. It means that the tumor is regressing (going away kinda?).

My path will likely be similar to yours, though your chances are, right now, quite amazing. Basically the surgery is pretty easy, you won’t remember any of it since you’ll be under. I did prescans to make sure things weren’t spreading, consisting of an MRI, CT, Chest X-Ray and blood work. The worst part about those is the anxiety for sure. Just know the odds are really in your favor. The day of surgery I had the CT scan where they traced the lymph node path. The injection hurt a bit, but the rest was just laying there until things drained. The surgery day was mostly just waiting around. They took part of my ear and 4 lymph nodes. Mine was near my neck so my neck was numb. It actually helped a bit because I had not surgery pain and didn’t even need pain medication. Likely the most sore part will be where they take the skin graft from. Beyond that they’ll test whatever lymph nodes they take and you’ll officially get staged. I was staged 2b, which is the highest local category. Technically there are not treatment at this stage so it is really just watch and see. You will have more monitoring visits and may have scans, probably yearly, to make sure all stays well. I did a clinical trial and it’s required some driving, but that’s about it.

Honestly I’ve had lots of scares, where I thought melanoma was back. But nothing had turned out to be melanoma. So really the worst part of this whole experience so far has been anxiety. I understand the kids things as mine are quite young as well. About the only issue I have now is that my neck is tight on occasion and still a bit numb near my ear. It’s also worth thinking about something like a counselor or even anxiety medication, especially to get your through these early months.