Hi everyone,
I first discovered something was wrong when one day after a shower I noticed blood on the towel, thinking to myself where it had come from so I had a look in the mirror and noticed 2 nodules on my upper back. They looked like skin tags but after further examination decided it was best to take myself to A&E. I was seen rather quickly by a nurse and she told me that I would need to see a Dermatologist in about 2 weeks. She also took a photograph of the lesions. I then get an appointment in August at Shoreham Southland's Hospital, I was seen by the Dermatologist and he said that they looked like a Merkel Cell Tumor, he arranged for me to come back in a fortnight and have them removed. In September 2022 I went to hospital to have my small operation because the area was so raw the injections to numb the area were painful and took longer to take effect. The nodules were removed and they would be sent for a biopsy. After about 3 weeks I get a letter to attend the hospital I was seen by the same Dermatologist and he told me that the lumps were a Melanoma, a Macmillan nurse was in the room as well so new something was up. He also said that I would need further intervention as it was quite deep and thick. He recommended that I have a wide excision surgery with a sentinel lymph node biopsy, but told me this would not be at a local hospital. My next appointment was at St George's Hospital in London with the plastics team we had a long chat and a small examination to see if there were any other signs of melanoma spreading. He arranged for me to have some scans these included a CT scan and MRI. In a couple of weeks time I get a phone call to say that a couple of lumps nodules were found and that they would need investigating. The nodule on my liver came back as nothing serious but the nodule on my back was abnormal so I would need a FNA and a biopsy. The biopsy came back clear so my main operation can now be done. A appointment was made for me to have the operation on the 3rd January 2023 I was admitted on the 2nd as I have type 2 diabetes and would need to be on a drip before they could operate. Operation went well but because of the diabetes and other problems I spent 3 days in hospital.
I came hom on the 4th January. On the 16th February I went back to St George's Hospital to get the dressing changed and to make sure that I had no infection. I told the nurse that I had a pain on my shoulder and I also had a stabbing pain underneath my left armpit, she sounded not too concerned and arranged for me to get my stitches removed at my local doctor's surgery on the 24th February. The nurse that took out my stitches discovered that I had an infection so I was put on a course of antibiotics for seven days. I also got my appointment back from St George's Hospital to get my results the biopsy on the Lymph Node came back clear so I was happy about that, she told me that I would need to have regular scans and checkups for the next 3 years to make sure that the melanoma does not return. She also asked me was there anything else that I was worried about and told her about the lumps that had appeared. She had a feel and decided for me to get an ultrasound scan that afternoon. It was confirmed that there were 2 lumps, and these would be looked at by the team. A few days went by and I then get a phone call from the plastics team saying that 1 of the lumps was showing some abnormal characteristics and that I would need a biopsy to see what it is. I waited about 2 weeks for the results I then get a phone call to say the team had a meeting about me and I would need to see them. I asked the lady on the phone what it was and she told me that the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes. I have another CT scan booked for the same day as my appointment with the plastics team on the 31st March. I am really worried now as I don't know what is going to happen.
