Surgery - tomorrow!!

Hi there.  

I had a WLE and SLNB in December for a melanoma on my right arm, so the SLNB was in my armpit. I’m not sure whether yours is going to be the same.  I didn’t have the conventional radioactive tracing dye  injected into my arm, as I opted for a slightly different procedure where they inject an indocyanide dye into the arm in theatre and they trace the lymph node that way.  The reason I went for that procedure rather than the gold standard radioactive route is because it had a slightly shorter waiting time, and like most people who have been newly diagnosed with a melanoma, I wanted it dealt with as quickly as possible.

Had I opted for the conventional procedure, my understanding is that the scan is a special type which traces radioactive dye,but I don’t know enough about the difference between that and a CT scan. If you’ve been told that your scan is a CT scan, then that’s presumably what you will be having.  There were other people on my ward who were having the conventional type of scan, and they were able to eat a very light meal as you have been told.  Because I only had surgery, I had to stop eating by 2 am. Sorry, I’m probably not being a great deal of help. Hopefully somebody else will come on and also answer this question.

In terms of the surgery itself, I was really nervous. I’ve only ever had one operation before.  it was nothing like as bad as I anticipated. The anaesthetist came round the ward 1st thing in the morning and was really reassuring.  In the hospital I was in, you walk to the operating theatre suite and you only lie down when you get to the anaesthetic room.  I was given an anti-nausea drug, which made my head spin and that’s all I remember.  Coming round afterwards wasn’t too bad.  I just remember shivering violently, which is apparently your muscles reacting as the anaesthetic wears off. The theatre staff were lovely and kept wrapping me up in blankets, so it soon passed.  It’s not long before you feel well enough to move around, and then they can’t wait to get you out of the hospital!

Really hope it all goes well tomorrow., as I’m sure it will.  These doctors know what they’re doing.

Hello SilverAspen thank you for your comment. 
my melanoma was a mole at the back of my head just above my neck. 
I will be honest by saying I’ve not been told anything or told I had any options for what procedures I have / don’t have. I’ve just been told this is what I’m having and that’s it. No one has even explained the risks to me - I’ve found the risk of lymphoedema myself by looking on here. I had no idea I even had options to be honest - I’ve really not had a good experience at all :( 

I feel like I’m going in tomorrow completely blind to be honest. 
I’m just not going to risk it and not eat anything - I wish I knew this at my pre op because I would have asked the questions then but I didn’t have the letter at that point. 

we will see how it goes :( thank you for your comment I really appreciate it and wish you well 

You’re welcome.  

In terms of options, I think I’m pretty unusual.  I came on to this forum  asking if anybody else had had the alternative procedure, as I just didn’t know which one to choose. Nobody else had.

 I think it’s something that my particular hospital was offering because they had had problems with the radioactive route (shortage of radioactive dye,  as well as problems with the scanner itself), They were confident that the procedure was as reliable in identifying the lymph nodes, but apparently not enough research has been done yet to give it to the gold standard rating. Also, it can only be offered to people whose melanoma was on their limbs, apparently, which wouldn’t be an option in your case.

I think it’s wise not to eat beforehand. At least that way you know that they will definitely be happy about giving you an anaesthetic.  Hopefully you won’t have to wait too long for the surgery.

in terms of questions and information, do you have a Macmillan nurse/cancer specialist nurse in the hospital that you coiuld contact in the future?. I was given  details of mine as soon as I was diagnosed, and I have to say they have been absolutely brilliant.  They have access to my medical notes, they can answer questions about my diagnosis and treatment, and they’ve been on hand whenever I worry about something. I live in Wales, but had to travel to Merseyside for my operation, and when I was on the ward, I was even introduced to 2 Macmillan nurses who werected based  there. if you have a similar experience tomorrow, you can ask them all sorts of questions.

Wishing you the very best for tomorrow. :)