@mixtajones
Forum Replies Created
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- July 15, 2014 at 4:47 am
Hello Christian,
Although I wish no one ever had to find this forum I am glad you did. I am fairly new to melanoma (about 5 months) and have found this board very helpful. I would first find out if them can still do a sentinal node byopsy. This will help them tell if it has made it to your lymph nodes. From there they will know a lot more. I would say the most important thing is to ask any and all questions you can think of. If you don't understand there explination ask them to explain it again. Not a lot of doctors are well versed in Melanoma so it is important to get to a melanoma specialist as soon as you can to make sure you know all your options.
I hope you are one of the lucky ones who caught it early and it was just the mole and has not spread. If not you will find tons of support and information here.
Best of luck!
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- July 15, 2014 at 4:47 am
Hello Christian,
Although I wish no one ever had to find this forum I am glad you did. I am fairly new to melanoma (about 5 months) and have found this board very helpful. I would first find out if them can still do a sentinal node byopsy. This will help them tell if it has made it to your lymph nodes. From there they will know a lot more. I would say the most important thing is to ask any and all questions you can think of. If you don't understand there explination ask them to explain it again. Not a lot of doctors are well versed in Melanoma so it is important to get to a melanoma specialist as soon as you can to make sure you know all your options.
I hope you are one of the lucky ones who caught it early and it was just the mole and has not spread. If not you will find tons of support and information here.
Best of luck!
-
- July 15, 2014 at 4:47 am
Hello Christian,
Although I wish no one ever had to find this forum I am glad you did. I am fairly new to melanoma (about 5 months) and have found this board very helpful. I would first find out if them can still do a sentinal node byopsy. This will help them tell if it has made it to your lymph nodes. From there they will know a lot more. I would say the most important thing is to ask any and all questions you can think of. If you don't understand there explination ask them to explain it again. Not a lot of doctors are well versed in Melanoma so it is important to get to a melanoma specialist as soon as you can to make sure you know all your options.
I hope you are one of the lucky ones who caught it early and it was just the mole and has not spread. If not you will find tons of support and information here.
Best of luck!
-
- April 16, 2014 at 4:19 am
Thank you all for the advice and words of wisdom. For those of you who are wondering about why I think I am stage 4 and why things don't add up read below
My Melanoma backstory is not typical I would assume. the mole that started this was a level 4 on the Clark scale and .97 on the Breslow scale. It was taken out in July by my primary care doctor (AKA Dr. Dumb Ass) and when biopsied it came back Melignant. The doctor thought that since the margins were clear there was nothing to worry about. he did not take out the sugested 1cm margin though. He never did a SND or even checked my lymph nodes.
8 month later I found a large lump under my arm. After a few doctor that couldn't figure out what it was I ended up at a surgeon to have what was believed to be a cyst removed. He was the one that put everything together and realized it could be Melanoma from the mole removed 8 months prior. After a few tests and a PET scan he realized it was very involved in the Axila. He did surgery and removed everything he could get to but could not get ones in my color bone area.
Oncologist number 1 said that those nodes are technically a different group and therefore he feels that that would classify me as Stage 4 but not as bad as if it was in other parts of my body. In my mind I am still stage 3C but I see what he means by it being a different group. I also think he wants to clasify me as stage 4 so I have no problem getting medication and posiibly getting into clinical trials.
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- April 16, 2014 at 4:19 am
Thank you all for the advice and words of wisdom. For those of you who are wondering about why I think I am stage 4 and why things don't add up read below
My Melanoma backstory is not typical I would assume. the mole that started this was a level 4 on the Clark scale and .97 on the Breslow scale. It was taken out in July by my primary care doctor (AKA Dr. Dumb Ass) and when biopsied it came back Melignant. The doctor thought that since the margins were clear there was nothing to worry about. he did not take out the sugested 1cm margin though. He never did a SND or even checked my lymph nodes.
8 month later I found a large lump under my arm. After a few doctor that couldn't figure out what it was I ended up at a surgeon to have what was believed to be a cyst removed. He was the one that put everything together and realized it could be Melanoma from the mole removed 8 months prior. After a few tests and a PET scan he realized it was very involved in the Axila. He did surgery and removed everything he could get to but could not get ones in my color bone area.
Oncologist number 1 said that those nodes are technically a different group and therefore he feels that that would classify me as Stage 4 but not as bad as if it was in other parts of my body. In my mind I am still stage 3C but I see what he means by it being a different group. I also think he wants to clasify me as stage 4 so I have no problem getting medication and posiibly getting into clinical trials.
-
- April 16, 2014 at 4:19 am
Thank you all for the advice and words of wisdom. For those of you who are wondering about why I think I am stage 4 and why things don't add up read below
My Melanoma backstory is not typical I would assume. the mole that started this was a level 4 on the Clark scale and .97 on the Breslow scale. It was taken out in July by my primary care doctor (AKA Dr. Dumb Ass) and when biopsied it came back Melignant. The doctor thought that since the margins were clear there was nothing to worry about. he did not take out the sugested 1cm margin though. He never did a SND or even checked my lymph nodes.
8 month later I found a large lump under my arm. After a few doctor that couldn't figure out what it was I ended up at a surgeon to have what was believed to be a cyst removed. He was the one that put everything together and realized it could be Melanoma from the mole removed 8 months prior. After a few tests and a PET scan he realized it was very involved in the Axila. He did surgery and removed everything he could get to but could not get ones in my color bone area.
Oncologist number 1 said that those nodes are technically a different group and therefore he feels that that would classify me as Stage 4 but not as bad as if it was in other parts of my body. In my mind I am still stage 3C but I see what he means by it being a different group. I also think he wants to clasify me as stage 4 so I have no problem getting medication and posiibly getting into clinical trials.
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- April 18, 2015 at 1:38 pm
Janner,
thanks for the response. I guess I sm wondering if this mole was caused by the original one the removed or if it is its own "starting point". All the nodes in that area are removed so it has nowhere close to go. The yervoy was very effective on my so I am hoping it has kept things contained to this small site
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- April 18, 2015 at 1:38 pm
Janner,
thanks for the response. I guess I sm wondering if this mole was caused by the original one the removed or if it is its own "starting point". All the nodes in that area are removed so it has nowhere close to go. The yervoy was very effective on my so I am hoping it has kept things contained to this small site
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- April 18, 2015 at 1:38 pm
Janner,
thanks for the response. I guess I sm wondering if this mole was caused by the original one the removed or if it is its own "starting point". All the nodes in that area are removed so it has nowhere close to go. The yervoy was very effective on my so I am hoping it has kept things contained to this small site
-
- June 1, 2014 at 2:08 am
I will ask my onc about the supliments affecting tumors. One of the odd things is it was slightly low before I even started yervoy and dropped a bit more after starting it. I am only 30 so age shouldn't be a factor.
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- June 1, 2014 at 2:08 am
I will ask my onc about the supliments affecting tumors. One of the odd things is it was slightly low before I even started yervoy and dropped a bit more after starting it. I am only 30 so age shouldn't be a factor.
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- June 1, 2014 at 2:08 am
I will ask my onc about the supliments affecting tumors. One of the odd things is it was slightly low before I even started yervoy and dropped a bit more after starting it. I am only 30 so age shouldn't be a factor.
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- May 21, 2014 at 1:41 pm
I don't focus on this too much but I do have a law suit open against the GP who didn't follow through on the mole. In California the big thing they look at in settlements is if you went from 50% or higher chance of survival to 49% or lower because of the missed diagnosis. If I was stage 3A or higher when the mole was discovered and am now stage 4 it would make a big impact
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- May 21, 2014 at 1:41 pm
I don't focus on this too much but I do have a law suit open against the GP who didn't follow through on the mole. In California the big thing they look at in settlements is if you went from 50% or higher chance of survival to 49% or lower because of the missed diagnosis. If I was stage 3A or higher when the mole was discovered and am now stage 4 it would make a big impact
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- May 21, 2014 at 1:41 pm
I don't focus on this too much but I do have a law suit open against the GP who didn't follow through on the mole. In California the big thing they look at in settlements is if you went from 50% or higher chance of survival to 49% or lower because of the missed diagnosis. If I was stage 3A or higher when the mole was discovered and am now stage 4 it would make a big impact
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