I am a 42 year old mother of two (11 and 9). I have always had trouble with my feet and toe nails (ingrown nails, corns and callus). So I have been going to the podiatrist regularly. Over a years ago, we started monitoring (with pictures) a dark line running from the base of my large toe nail to its end.
Last April it suddenly changed colour, got yellow and got very dark in the middle of the nail and also soft to the touch. The podiatrist advised to show to GP asap. I went to seen the GP after 3 weeks and in the meantime, the dark spot became clearer and the nail disintegrated around it. The GP referred me to a plastic surgeon whom I saw 10 days later. Given I am from a north African background+history of HPV (2 LLETZ procedures) + all the pictures I showed, the surgeon recommended that the nail should be removed and tested.
So here I am awaiting the biopsy and worrying sick. I also have a question about recovery times after the toe nail removal. I am afraid I will have to cancel our holidays end of July and cause great disappointment to children.
Hi and a very warm welcome to the online community
It's perfectly normal to be worried at the prospect of a biopsy and then having to wait for the results. My melanoma was removed from my arm so the biopsy was a straightforward procedure done under local anaesthetic which probably took about 15 minutes. Apart from my arm feeling sore for a few days it certainly wouldn't have prevented me from going on holiday.
Has the surgeon given you any idea of when the biopsy is likely to happen? When you do go for the biopsy ask how long the results are currently taking as it could be anywhere between 2-6 weeks depending on how busy the path labs are. If you know how long you might have to wait hopefully you'll worry less.
Subungual melanoma is very rare so you might like to take a look at this thread that was started by 6 months ago as she had a subungual melanoma under her thumb nail and you can read how she got on. I've also tagged her into my reply to you as I'm hoping that she might be able to give you some idea as to how long it might take for your toe to heal.
Keep us informed with how you get on and ask as many questions on here as you want. No question is too daft, we just want to help if we can.
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"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
Hi
I hope you're well and feeling less worried now. Have you had a date through for your biopsy yet?
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"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
That's great news ! I hope you're planning a little celebration.
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"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
