Nodular melanoma

Hi  and welcome to the online community

I'm sorry to hear that your husband has to have a mole removed next week and I can understand your worry having faced this myself.

You say that you've been goggling and you're convinced that your husband has nodular melanoma. Did the consultant say that he thought the mole was likely to be a melanoma? I can quite understand you want to find out as much as you can about melanoma but I would stay on trusted websites like this one, Cancer Research UK or the NHS. There are lots of websites out there with out of date information and worse case scenarios where you end up scaring yourself further.

You might like to start by reading this booklet produced by Macmillan which you can download by clicking on the photo below.

I know that Wednesday seems a long way off at the moment so in the meantime try to fill your time with work, hobbies or doing things that you enjoy so that you have less time to worry. Your husband may also have to wait several weeks for his results so during this time please feel free to pop back on here at any time to ask any questions you may have.

You're not alone. Everyone on here understands exactly what you're going through.

Sending both you and your husband a virtual (((hug)))

Hi Latchbrook and thank you for your reply.  I'm sorry you've been through this too, it's such a worrying time.  

No the Consultant didn't say he thought it was a melanoma, he just said it needed to come off! when my husband asked him if its something to worry about, he just said he was very concerned.  It's me that matched up all the symptoms and came up with Nodular Melanoma.  I understand what you're saying about Google, but I can't help myself!  I'm looking for reassurance and desperately hoping this isn't what I think it is.  Wednesday feels like a age to wait, and like you say we probably wont know any more at this point.  

Thanks for the virtual hug, it is very welcome

Hello sadjeo, I have just spent ages doing you a reply when my iPad crashed and lost it all !!!!grrrrh.

We have all been where you are now fearing the worst, even not knowing what we are fearing, things are so new for you today.

You said you needed some reassurance, and some hope that it isn’t what you think it is. I’m afraid you won’t get that until the biopsy results come back, but we are all here to give some reassurance that we have been what you and your husband are going through. I have reached a stage and I hope many others have where they don’t like a melanoma diagnosis but they are comfortable enough with the fact, it is what is is and there is still joy to be had in each day.

So what ever you need help with, and there is a lot to get your head round, or space to rant or to understand your feelings there’s a lot here that will gladly share their experiences or give you a link or to to some info that might be helpful for you.

Best wishes

Thank you KT, you sound so positive. You’re right we are living in fear and we won’t be out of it until we know the results of the biopsy. I’m just wondering what happens next after the initial removal, we’re due to go abroad for 2 weeks at the beginning of July, so not sure if we need to cancel it or not? Will the results be back by then? If any further treatment is needed will it need to be done asap? So many questions!

I’m trying not to build it all up in my head and have to be strong and positive for my husband, the chances are it could be anything! And even if it is the worst case scenario, we could’ve caught it early! This is horrible. My heart goes out to everyone that is touched by cancer.

Thank you for the support, it really does mean a lot x

Hi  

After the initial biopsy the mole will be sent off to the pathology labs to be examined. Typically the results will take anything between 2 to 6 weeks to come back to your consultant. Your husband could tell the consultant when he sees him next week of your holiday plans to see if there's any reason you can't go. 

If melanoma is diagnosed your husband will have a wide local excision (WLE) to take a further margin away around the original excision. The size of this depends on the depth of the melanoma that they find. He may also be offered a sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in the lymph nodes closest to the melanoma to see if the cancer has spread there, again depending on the stage and depth of the tumour.

It will depend on how busy the hospital and surgeons are as to when your husband would have these operations. As an example it was 4 months after my original excision (10 weeks after I'd been diagnosed) before I had my WLE and SLNB but Christmas and New Year got in the way which delayed things so your husband might not have as long a wait.

If you want to read more on these surgeries take a look at page 40 onwards in the Understanding Melanoma and Treatment with Surgery leaflet I gave you a link to previously.

Wishing your husband all the best for next week x

Hi sadjeo, 

Your husband is having the removal on Wednesday and it’s on the bottom of his foot so he might have problems walking for a bit. I think you should ask at that Wednesday appointment if he is ok to fly and go on holiday. It may be they think a holiday would be good a chance to put his feet up, or if a long haul flight I don’t know what they would recommend, and being careful in the sun might be another consideration for you all. 

After that removal, if it is melanoma he will have a further excision called a wide local excision (WLE) to ensure a safe margin of clear skin, and depending on the size of the melanoma be offered a sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) to check if it has spread to any nodes. The link that latchbrook gave you will tell you about that and she has had both procedures, I have not as my primary melanoma was not found, my diagnosis came in 2015 when it had spread. On Wednesday ask them when they would predict that procedure to be if required. My thinking would be you will have to wait 2 to 6 weeks for the results and then a few weeks for the procedure, if you told them your holiday dates they could avoid it but I think you’ve identified that you might not want to wait and have it done asap. People have different attitudes to risk so it’s difficult to comment further. The larger the melanoma the longer it might have been there the less likely people are to risk a delay, as there is a bigger worry. 

I’ve recently had a long wait for treatment to start treatment after a scan and a biopsy, and a holiday was the best thing for me a week in Norfolk before the biopsy, and then a week in Scotland waiting for treatment to start. For me though I will be on treatment every 3 weeks for a year though, for your husband if you have insurance and cancel the holiday it won’t be long before you can rebook and go away to celebrate coming through surgery and catching it early. There is also monitoring every three months wether it has or hasn’t spread if it is a melanoma. 

Do read the books and and make use of peoples personal experience or the support line or ask a nurse. 

I hope this helps

Thank you for your prompt reply latchbrook, heck it seems like you had a very long wait. The first excision biopsy is about 2 1:2 weeks off our holiday, so maybe we will still be able to go, although I can’t see us enjoying it like we normally would with having this hanging over us! We will definitely speak to the surgeon on Wednesday. Obviously I wouldn’t want him missing any appointments or treatment just for the sake of a holiday, but it sounds 2 weeks won’t make too much difference. Thank you for the link to the melanoma pamphlet. I’ve had a good read and feel better about things. I’m a worrier anyway, so something like this really tipped me over the edge. I’m concerned about how much they’ll take off on Wednesday, I presume they’ll take all of the lesion?, I would hope they’ll go deeper to make sure they’ve got it all? It’s in a very awkward place too, right on the sole of his foot! Not much skin to pull together down there! And if we are allowed to go away on holiday, I wouldn’t think it would have healed by then, so probably not allowed to swim!

Thanks again for all the info and your kind wishes. X

I’m laughing that latchbrook and I have virtually said the same thing at the same time.

What's the saying KTatHome. Great minds think alike and fools never differ!

I think we're the great minds though :)

x

No problem , glad I can help.

Yes, they will take out all of the lesion and go as deep as necessary to remove it.

Although I had a long wait from excision to getting my results I wasn't expecting melanoma so wasn't worrying. Mine wasn't the classic dodgy mole but what the medical profession liked to call a "curious lesion". In other words they didn't know what it was. It turned out to be an amelanotic melanoma.

My skin cancer nurse specialist (your husband will be assigned a SCNS as a point of contact if it's melanoma) told me that the lesion had been removed with clear margins so I felt sure that there would be no cancer cells left behind. I didn't know what the SLNB would turn up but managed to occupy myself most of the time so didn't spend too much time worrying after the initial shock had started to fade.

I'll post this reply now and see if KTatHome has also posted :)