It’s spread to my lymph nodes

Thank you again for this information x 

KTatHome   That is exactly how I am feeling up one minute down the next. Wide awake since 6 whist everyone else sleeps and I Am finding myself googling. Hoping to go home from our wee break away to a  Scan letter x 

KTatHome no letter yet for a ct scan hopefully it will be here early next week. X 

Hi Amccl, that must have been a disappointment on your return, but I hope your break away was good. Fingers crossed for an early letter for you. 

My break away was nice we really enjoyed it. Xx 

Scan date in … Saturday 31st July x had hoped it would have been way sooner x 

I hate the word “ journey “ too !!  Arghhh I was just diagnosed the cancer nurse used that word when I spoke to her via phone and I felt like throwing the phone against the wall . A journey to me is a voluntary planned thing ! Having cancer is neither . Regards Adam 

Hi, can I please tag along on this thread? Just told this morning that my SLNB had ‘a small amount of melanoma in it’. Also waiting for dates for scans. As my original melanoma was stage 1B I really was not expecting anything more to be found but here I am. 

Not sure how I should be feeling and how much (if any) more I should be concerned. But I guess that depends on the scans?  

JJ_runsaway I just had my ct scan on Friday after 2 of my lymph nodes showed up signs of melanoma ( the amount etc was never mentioned). So hoping for no more spread and I can get on with the treatment that’s needed. 

Hi JJ_runsaway, I think this is a very good place for you to join in waiting for a scan along with Amccl and anyone else.

There is no wrong or right way to feel I think, and my last few years have me aiming to be positive, being aware of what the next step might be, and being grateful for that next step, because when there is a next step things aren’t so scary. 

One way of looking at things now that melanoma has been found in lymph nodes, is that if you are lucky it was only in the  bits that have been removed, and where as a few years ago there was no other treatment until things had spread further, now there is adjuvant treatment, to help fight any possible microscopic pieces to small to be seen, a bit like putting weedkiller on a lawn which has had dandelions. If there is something on the scan you will probably be getting the same treatment, but it will be to fight the bigger pieces that can be seen. I’d say try not to loose that optimism that you felt, as it’s much nicer coping and living with that mindset than expecting the worst, it’s just we have to cope with the uncertainty at the  back of our minds when pre diagnosis we didn’t have to. Luckily for a lot of us though we are coping in a position of good health if it wasn’t for the mind games. 

I hope you are able to put something in your profile JJ as it’s helpful to keep track when replying to you and you will probably find it useful looking at the profile of people who reply to you to see where they are coming from. I’m now 6 years into having scans and from my point of view it’s difficult and unrealistic to expect to be positive all of the time, we sometimes just have to embrace the dark side to be able to move on being positive again, if that doesn’t sound to much like Star Wars! I’m waiting for a scan in August but I’m very much ahead of most in this thread I’ve had some brilliant results and some unexpected blips. Everyone’s journey is different but there is still a lot of hope with treatment where as any old searches of google will bring up dreadful news, but there’s also a lot of uncertainty to be coped with.

I was thinking that with covid and the uncertainty of that, people will have there own coping mechanisms form then, we have to add into that though being safe in the sun and an even bigger emphasis on helping our immune system cope with things.

Im wishing everyone some luck and patience with their waits.