Miotic rate

Morning Sonny09

I personally don't think there's any benefit in knowing the mitotic rate (MR) for your melanoma as it doesn't make any difference to the treatment you receive or the follow ups you'll have afterwards.

The MR was previously used to decide whether a melanoma was stage 1a or stage 1b but from publication of the 8th edition of the AJCC Melanoma Staging System last year it was removed from stage 1 staging criteria and only thickness and ulceration is used now.

Hope that helps

x

Hi Latchbrook, thank you for responding, just feeling a bit lost whilst waiting for my op date.

Hi sonny I'm inclined to agree with latchbrook. I'm an old hand at cancer mm 2014 then womb cancer 2015 (unrelated). Womb cancer was already stage 3 at diagnosis and consequently have had lot surgery/scans over the last 3 years and due to go for op on Monday for recurrence. My mm was the worst kind nodular ulcerated high mitriotic rate, fortunately SLNB was clear as have been checkups since. I found concentrating on the positives is so important otherwise cancer can take over your life and you find time passing you by and causing unnecessary worry. If you were to look at stats stage 1 superficial spreading thin mm that's not penetrated far has something like a 95% survival rate in short you are more likely to die of something else entirely. It has already been removed the WLE just precaution to make sure no cells remain it's one of the few cancers where surgery alone is cure.  That's the good thing about mm it can be seen unlike my other cancer that had invaded deeply before symptoms. I think once your WLE is out the way you will feel a bit more reassured and I think you'll find as time goes by you will think of it less and less because you will be too busy enjoying life again! 

Thank you for reply papermoon, to be fair I am not worried about it, just frustrated with wait for op, told needed urgent then the weeks pass, so keep getting my hopes up, cant plan anything at work or at home until I have a date, totally agree about being positive

I can understand the frustration of not having your date yet Sonny09 but a WLE is just a "mopping up exercise", as my SCNS explained it to me. The melanoma has already been removed and the purpose of the WLE is to make sure that a large enough margin was removed with it.

It was about 10 weeks between my diagnosis and having my WLE and I just tried to get on with my life as normal while I waited for the appointment to come through. I think the letter with the appointment date came through about a week after I had my pre-op. I wouldn't say that I didn't worry about it during that time but I tried to occupy myself so that it wasn't always at the forefront of my mind. As long as the things you want to do don't involve any expense that you couldn't get back, I'd be inclined to do the things you want to do and change them if necessary.

x

It's the fact that we cancelled our summer holiday for these procedures, just hope I have them done prior to when these dates would have been, we were all looking forward to it after a shitty year in our family due to various health issues

Oh, I can see why you're feeling frustrated Sonny09 if you've already cancelled your holiday 

Although your consultant said he wanted your WLE and SLNB to be done urgently it all depends on when the surgeons and operating theatres are available. For example it took longer than normal for mine to be done because I was diagnosed just before Christmas and apparently a lot of the surgeons take the period around Christmas and New Year as holiday.

You'll probably get a letter for a pre-op first and then usually the operations are done within 2 weeks, otherwise you have to have another pre-op!

x

Thankfully got pre op check next tuesday

That's good news Sonny09 as your ops should be a couple of weeks later.

When you go for the pre-op ask the nurse or consultant how quickly you're likely to have the ops. When I went, as I was happy not to stay in hospital overnight, they were able to get me an appointment sooner than if I'd needed an overnight stay.

Let us know how you get on on Tuesday.

x

Have been speaking with the person that schedule the ops, and been told they need to co ordinate 3 diaries, so they might know more on Wednesday, when people are back in from leave. Sadly I have been told I will be kept in and could be up to 5 days because of where it is at and needing a skin graft. Yes I will post an update about how it goes on Tuesday