Hi everyone!
I am a mum of two boys (7 and 4) and I had a mole on my arm that came back as superficial spreading melanoma and stage 1a. I have been given the results by the dermatologist who originally removed the mole and he has referred me onwards to the oncology team. I am having very mixed emotions: on one hand so grateful and happy they caught it this early on and another still in shock that I’ve got cancer.
From what I understand I might not need a sentinel node biopsy but just a WLE. Not sure what else will happen, would be nice to hear from others who’ve been through or are going through the same
Hi and a very warm welcome to the online community
I'm sorry to read that you've recently been diagnosed with melanoma but it sounds like it's been caught at a really early stage.
It's natural to have very mixed emotions and I can remember how shocked I felt when I was diagnosed 4 years ago. Stage 1a is as good as it gets without being told that you don't have melanoma at all but having a cancer diagnosis is still a shock.
I had both a WLE and sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) as my melanoma was 1.45mm deep. Usually SLNBs are only offered if your melanoma is 0.8mm deep or more.
If it's just a WLE then this is normally done under a local anaesthetic like your original excision biopsy.
It would be great if you could pop something about your journey so far into your profile as it really helps others when answering or looking for someone with a similar diagnosis. It also means that you don't have to keep repeating yourself. To do this click on your username and then select 'Profile'. You can amend it at any time and if you're not sure what to write you can take a look at mine by clicking on my username.
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"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
