COMING UP FOR 1 MONTH (NO PHOTOS!)

3 minute read time.

FormerMember

25 Apr 2010

Tuesday will be the 4 week anniversary since my operation to remove the MM and have the SKIN GRAFT and the SNB

A 4 week relfection.

From referal from GP to MM clinic to now = less than 3 months.
If i had not scrapped the mole in the shower and causally asked the GP to look at it at an appointment for BP then i wonder how long it would have been before I had taken it seriously.
St Georges I find can not be faulted on the care they provide. I was kept informed all the time time as to what was going to happen, the complications, worse case scenarios and ongoing care etc.
Saskia and Carol, the MacMillan nurses at St Georges are amazing and definately 2 people you want on your side. just to hear Saskia say "peter... its normal" was exactly what i wanted to hear.
When you have an appointment have the questions written down and ask them all. doesnt matter how silly you think a question is, they will answer anything you have to ask and dont leave the appointment until you are happy with the replies, dont remember the question you forgot to ask them on your way home.
Surround yourself with people who know you and people who care about you. I had my parents stay for near 4 weeks and it was a god send. Putting aside the fact mum is a great cook and dad a great handyman, i could not have asked for better carers. Also getting a load of get-well-soon cards from people really keeps you positive. Being online here is also great for positiveness.
Be patient, the healing process takes time. This was a hard lesson to learn... i wanted to be back at work a week after the op... well that was never going to happen. I am just lucky I have a job to go back to that has never put pressure on me to return too early and to get back into my ob steadily.
something that has been on my mind for the last week... having read here and on facebook about what other people have gone through. i almost feel my MM cut out and patched up seems to be insignificant to other peoples traumas. I guess MM is MM and thank goodness the SNB came back negative, but i think i am not going to complacent about it not returning. I am learning to use mirrors to see around the back of my body for tell tale signs etc. I think the whole experience has made me more vigilant about my own body and to really take the time to check it. Before this all happened, and even at the results clinic of the mole biopsy, i still thought that cancer happens to other people. Now i want to shake all this pale skinned, blue eyes gingers like me that however much they try they are never going brown!

I have an appointment at the plastics dressing clinic on Monday and they are going to try and sort out the over granulation with some silver nitrate or something similar. They will also check the going to make sure all the infection i had has gone. The Skin graft doner site has pretty much cleared now. I will take photos on Monday and post them here. I am thinking about calling the local rags to see if they would like to do a piece on MM/GP 2 week rule/ST Georges etc etc Maybe as a warning just before summer comes?

Am i missing anything here?

Best wishes to everyone, patients and carers.

Peter

FormerMember over 15 years ago

It's not just fair skinned gingers that get melanoma Peter, and it's not necessarily sunbathing that gave you yours. People should be aware that anyone can get melanoma, black, brown, white, young, old, male or female. It knows no boundaries. It can start on your skin or inside your body. On your foot or inside your mouth, under your hair or behind your eye. You could be a life long sunbather or a newborn baby that's never seen the sun.

Everyone should be vigilant, not just those of us who have experienced melanoma.

Marsha x
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FormerMember over 15 years ago

Hi Peter,

The Daily Mail often do articles on Skin Cancer & have done for years. About 10 years ago I responded to one of their articles on the dangers of sunbeds & I had my letter & photo on the letters page. It might be worth writing in to them - the more stories they get from we melanoma sufferers the more chance their readers might take notice.

As for warning all the fairskinned people about the dangers of tans I often have to bite my lip when I walk past people laid out like sardines in the sun. The Brits unfortunately think scarlet coloured skin is a fashion statement & they don't take kindly to being told otherwise so I just walk past shaking my head, hoping they don't learn their lesson the hard way.

Regards Angie
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FormerMember over 15 years ago

hi peter , i dont think weve spoken before my husband died of metastic melonomas ,6 weeks ago, he worked out in the sun but always wore a hat , ironicly the hat had two little holes in its design and thats where his started, the only positive thing i can think of for losing someone so young is that i can help spread the word and hopefully prevent someone else from going through the heartbreak that we have,so please along with me write to papers, spread the word and yes show your pics , it may get through to someone love jenni x
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FormerMember over 15 years ago

marsha - as always i appreciate you as my best devils advocate... its easy sometimes not being able to see past your own nose and i agree with everything you said...you have reinforced the importance also of regular dental checks and optical appointments etc....

angie - i will contact all the papers and see if anyone is interested... if no one is then i should ask to do an article on people not being interested? its all about education

jenni - we havent spoken before but its nice to see new people interested in what i have to say as i am in other peoples blogs. sorry to hear about your husband, and yet another lesson to be learnt about effective protection and not just the coolest or cheapest etc...

thanks for all comments..

peter x
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FormerMember over 15 years ago

Wow Peter, so much has happened since we last spoke, so glad your SNB was clear. Think your pics are brill and yes a great idea to contact the papers and get those pics on view. Did you have the SNB and surrounding glands removed or just the SNB? My mole was on the bottom of my right leg, back of calve. The surgeon who did my wider excision did a skin flap, instead of a skin graft. When I first saw my leg i actually fainted, your pics reminded me of mine. It took so long to heal, my mum is a nurse and changed the dressings for me, it seemed that i was up the hospital most days. Her and her colleague tried every different dressing they had. Unfortunately mine took too long to heal, and did end up with an infection and had to go back into hosp to have a skin graft and this seemed to heal quickly then. A year on and my leg looks so much better, my surgeon has offered to do some more work on it but dont really feel i could cope with going back down the hospital route, and feel i would rather live with it x
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