Mtg with consultant

Hi Romy60 and a very warm welcome to the online community which I hope you'll find is both an informative and supportive place to be.

I was diagnosed with stage 2 melanoma 6 years ago and, like you, had a WLE and sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB). You haven't said where on your body the WLE will be and, if you let us know, that might help others suggest some more questions for you to ask.

Mine was on my upper arm and I was also told that I might need a skin graft. As it turned out I didn't and now, 6 years down the line, the scar is barely visible, although it was a very large wound at the time.

My advice would be to just ask any questions that you think of between now and next week. Some examples are:

• will it be day surgery or will I need to stay in hospital overnight
• how should I care for the wounds
• will the stitches be dissolvable or will I need to arrange to have them removed and, if the latter, when should this be
• how soon will I get the results of the SLNB and how will they be given to me

Hopefully, that gives you a few to be starting with. I would recommend that you write these questions down as it's easy to forget what you want to ask when you're in the consultation room.

It would be great if you could pop something about your diagnosis and treatment so far into your profile as it really helps others when replying to you and also when looking for someone on a similar pathway. 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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Thanks that's helpful, Melanoma was on my scalp, margins were clear, it's been suggested I'll need a skin graph and the lymph nodes on my neck will be checked

Hi Romy and welcome to our melanoma forum sadly.  We're a great supportive bunch of people on here and will support you however we can.

You're almost at your consultant meeting and as there's no Covid lockdown you can take a person into the meeting with you maybe. Another pair of ears to catch what you might miss.   Any waiting is scary and waiting for results more so but these tests have to be done. Obviously these tests are done to find out if the melanoma cells have travelled to any nearby lymph nodes and this will indicate if you need further treatment or not.

I think my questions would be similar to the ones posed by Latchbrook and I would also ask how many lymph nodes will be removed apart from the sentinel node(which is the first node your scalp lesion drained to) ? 

Don't be afraid to ask for pain killers afterwards hon.  Good luck with your operation and let us know how you get on xx

Thanks, that's helpful. I'm a reflector so find it difficult to respond at the time but always have loads of questions afterwards. Getting help from those that really understand is invaluable, thanks

Hi, if you look at my profile, I had WLE and lymph node operation on23.12.2022.. Further details there.My node was only 3mm so I am hopefully it hasn't mastasticized.Plastic surgeon carried out the op and has done a pretty good job with scar. I didn't need a skin graft. Dr explained everything in detail. The only issue I had was that he talked to me after I came out of recovery. All I remember is him talking gibberish as I was still high on medications.

1. If you have any queries please ask. I hope everything  goes well.