Jw2457

Hi there just wanted to pop back in and follow up. I had my WLE and SLNB on 11/30. They were able to get clear margins and removed about 10 lymph nodes, all came back negative. What was left in what was excised was just residual melanoma in-situ, so it seems like the originals biopsy on diagnosis got most of it out at .9mm, but with regression present I suppose we will never know true depth.

so, best possible news for me. I think I am 1b? I will have follow ups with the surgical oncologist for five years and regular skin checks with my derm. They are nit offering any scans for me. Is there anything else I can or should ask for? I am absolutely terrified of recurrence and that there’s really not much I can do other than “wait and see” ????

Honestly, I would be thrilled if that were the case in my situation. I want this thing removed regardless of the diagnosis. It’s a suspect spot I cannot see myself to easily monitor. I think it’s smart to remove regardless and hopefully there will be no major complications from any procedures.. I know the scalp is tricky if we want to try to keep from having a bald spot, which I would like to do since I’m 32 F.

Thank you! Oh, I am trying… this is tough stuff. I said to one of the other replies, I’m, maybe foolishly, hoping that this may mean my melanoma (Assuming it is one) isn’t super aggressive, otherwise it would be more clear to them? :/

oh don’t get me wrong, I am very much glad they’re double-checking things but I just wish I knew that was a thing before they told me, “hey you have melanoma and here’s your surgery date” — I might have held off on telling some people until I knew for sure what I was dealing with. Now, that being said.. is it stupid to think maybe my situation isn’t quite as bad because they’re not sure if it is or isn’t? I would assuming if it were a super aggressive melanoma then it must be pretty cut and dry, right? :/ I don’t want to be too optimistic, but that could give a girl some peace of mind.. 🙂

Hah well good this is consistent with what my incessant googling has told me..thank you! The peripheral involvement of the melanoma isn’t necessarily surprising because they told me the biopsy specimen was truncated as in it was at least .9mm but I’m assuming a clear margin wasn’t achieved at the base when she performed the shave biopsy and the sample had melanoma all the way to the bottom of what she removed? I just hope it hasn’t spread. I know treatment is generally good these days but I am just so worried about being a present parent while going through such a trying thing. I know people do this every day, some much worse off than me, it’s just all so scary right now not knowing the extent to which we’ll be affected.

Thank you, this is all good advice and very helpful. The surgeon I’m going to was who my dermatologist referred to and she told me that use him frequently for melanoma cases, I don’t know that he’s a specialist specific to melanoma, but his clinical expertise is Head and neck oncology, head and neck surgery, microvascular reconstruction per their website. I am glad to hear the SLNB wasn’t awful.