Hi
My lovely husband (53) went to the doctors in Dec about a mole on his hand which seemed to be getting darker. Doc referred him to hospital and they removed the mole there and then. Last week was his follow up with a cancer nurse specialist who advised it was a spitzoid melanoma stage 2b (1.4 but ulceration visible). He’s been referred on for a WLE and slnb if appropriate. Reading the MacMillan booklet we were given, I can see that if they do a lymph node biopsy and that comes back positive he would potentially be offered immunotherapy or target drug therapies. It seems to depend if he is Braf positive or negative as to what treatment he may be offered. Have I got that right and if so will he find out after the slnb which he is or at the first appointment to discuss the WLE and SLNB? I realise if I just hang on I’ll find all this out in due course but I’m finding that having researched the next steps each time is helping me from completely giving in to tears during the appointments and hence distracting the specialists and my husband from the more important matter of discussing his diagnosis. Thank you for any help, much appreciated.
Hi JoJoCots 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'm sorry to read that your husband has recently been diagnosed with melanoma and it's natural to have lots of questions.
Although I haven't had either immunotherapy or targeted drug therapies, you are right that your husband may be offered these if the SLNB comes back positive. I don't think he'll know if he's BRAF positive or negative until after the WLE and SLNB but, if no one from this forum comes forward to share their experience with you, you could post the question in the Ask a Nurse section of the online community.
While you're waiting for replies, it would be great if you could put something about your husband's 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.
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
