Amelanotic Melanoma - Stage 2 Diagnosis

Hi TheGaz1982 and welcome to this forum and I'm sorry to hear about your diagnosis.  You're probably still in shock from the news and feeling very apprehensive which are absolutely normal emotions. 

Yes it's normal to have full body scans as part of normal investigations following a diagnosis of melanoma.   The doctors usually stage the melanoma from the depth of skin it penetrates into. Then they check for possible local lymph node involvement.  The operation usually done is a wide local excision and a sentinel lymph node biopsy.  The sentinel node is the first node in line to drain fluid from the melanoma.  I had this done under general anesthesia with an injection of a coloured dye they could trace  to the sentinel node.  And yes our lymph glands pop up and down in reaction to any inflammatory causing issues but the docs are right to check. 

Then the wait for results during which time try and keep busy.  Take a big deep breath Gareth and don't panic.  Tell your nearest and dearest is totally your decision. There are no rights and wrongs.  X

Hi Alottment Lover,

Thank you for your kind response- very assuring words.

I am due a CT scan and an SLN biopsy in a few weeks, so hopefully this will not be as bad as I fear. I will respond to this post and let you know how I get on.

Take care,

Gareth.

Hi, it's such a worrying time, all out of our control and confusing. Have you had a CT scan before? Do you need some more info on that and the SLNB?  

Best wishes,

Lucy

Hi Lucy,

It is, the waiting around is the worst part. I haven't had a CT scan before, and don't really know too much about the SLNB, although I am down for an Ultrasound scan to on my SNLB firstly (as it is swollen).

Any further advise, from your experience would be wonderful! 

Thanks,

Gareth.

Hi  was diagnosed with stage 1b earlier this year and I have had a ct scan. The scan itself is nothing to worry about, they inject you with some dye, then about 15 minutes later you have the scan done which takes  about 5 to 10 minutes and basically you just lie still. It's not inside a tube or anything like that, however mine  sounded like an old washing machine on a spin cycle. 

The second thing is are you having SNLB or an ultrasound and biopsy of the lymph node as they are two totally different things. I had an ultrasound done soon after having my mole removed and also had an inflamed lymph node (which I was told was probably due to the original surgery) so needed an ultrasound biopsy done, went along to get it done, was checked before they did the biopsy and told I didn't need one as my node had gone down. Hope this helps.

Hi Redlis,

Thank you for your reply and sorry to hear about your diagnosis, hopefully everything is okay with you now.

I'm not too worried about the scan or any subsequent surgeries to be honest, however, I'd prefer not to be having them- but hey-ho :-)

I'm having a CT Scan and an Ultrasound on the right-side of my face/neck, followed by a biopsy. Not sure if this will be done in the same day or week.

If the lymph node is found to be cancerous, will the SNLB follow on from this? They just take several away now don't they, as opposed to all of them in a particular area.

My swollen lymph is right next to where my Melanoma grew (probably 2cm away) and probably started swelling a few weeks before I had the Melanoma removed. 

I'm hoping everything will be okay.

Thanks,

Gareth.

Hi Gareth, I was told the the biopsy was to determine if the lymph node was cancerous or not, the ct scan was to see if the cancer had spread to any other parts of my body. I had the ct scan done first followed 2 weeks later by the biopsy I had cancelled. I'm not sure what happens if the biopsy comes back positive as I was lucky and all my results came back clear. However as far as I understand with SNLB, they look to see which lymph nodes the cancer could have spread to remove those and check to see if they are cancerous. However with the ultrasound biopsy they take a small sample of the lymph node to  check to see if its cancerous or not, and if it is I presume they remove the lymph node, but as I said I'm not sure what happens then. 

Hi Gareth.  The CT scan is usually in the same area in a hospital and it would make sense to do the same things at the same time.  A CT scan is the "airiest" scan to  have, followed by the PET scan and then the MRI (which is the narrowest tunnel). The CT scan dye can give you a hot flush and a feeling like you want to pee! I had an ultrasound guided biopsy of a neck node too. I was apprehensive but I actually felt nothing after the local anesthetic.  As to removing the lymph node itself (and as you say another one or two) the doctors will decide if they want to go ahead with that operation.  That is done under a general anaesthetic.  It's not a treatment in itself buts aids the final correct staging of melanoma. Your swollen node may not be the sentinel node. The sentinel node is the first node the melanoma drains into so if it has spread this far they will find it. The sentinel node is found by an injection of a radioactive solution, this is usually injected into the mole already identified.  I had that node removed plus one either side of it( axilla). 

I hope this explains things clearly.  Please don't hesitate to ask anything on here, as we say there are no stupid questions! 

Take care x

Hi Redlis,

Thanks. Yes, I think that is what it is to determine. I think pretty much what you have said, sums the process up. I'll await my appointments coming through, and update my profile accordingly.

Thanks,

Gareth.

Hi Lucy,

Thank you for that information. My mam has recently had an MRI scan and a CT scan and I think she struggled with the MRI due to claustrophobia! 

It's amazing what they can do now (from your information above). Even just being able to trace the Lymph Nodes etc. Can you imagine going through this 30 years ago!

Anyway, hope you have recovered well from everything to date. I will keep you posted.

Thanks,

Gareth.