Scared

Hi again 

It was me who suggested you join this group after you'd posted on New to the Community so I'm please to see you over here where you'll find plenty of support.

Hutchinson's freckle, or to give it it's proper name of lentigo maligna, is usually found in older people and is a precancerous condition that looks like a stain on the skin. 

It is a type of melanoma called 'in situ' which means that the cells have not spread anywhere else in the body and are all contained in the top layer of the skin. This is why some doctors refer to them as pre-cancer.

If it does turn out to be a lentigo maligna, then depending on how much tissue was removed in the first operation, sometimes a second operation is needed to make sure that all the cells were removed. Usually this is all the treatment that is necessary.

Let us know when your son's results come back and, in the meantime, come back anytime to ask anymore questions that you think of.

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Thanks for responding. Yes we were told numerous times that this type of cancer is usually only seen in 40/50 year olds who have used sun beds or lived in hot countries etc. We’ve always been good at putting sun cream on him so I don’t understand how it could be from the sun.  

 TBH no one has ever seen this in a kid so we are in unknown territory. They took the whole nail & 2 biopsies from under the nail bed. The surgeon said that she’d never seen anything like this when she performed the surgery, but still offered no hope that it was anything other than cancer.   

Do you know of any parents who have been in this situation & can give me advice? 

Sorry I presumed it was on his skin as you said it was a Hutchinson's freckle. 

You said in your last post that the "hospital have been fairly negative about the likelihood of cancer" but you're now saying that they "offered no hope that it was anything other than cancer". Sorry, I'm confused. Are they saying that they don't think it's cancer or that they do think it's cancer.

However, even if they think it is cancer no one can be sure until the biopsy results are back. There are plenty of people who have passed through this group thinking they definitely had melanoma but turned out not to have. 

There have been several parents who have come on here in the past as their children had suspected melanoma. Unfortunately, although they all said they'd tell us the results of the biopsies to help other parents in future none of them did 

When you have a minute it would be really useful if could pop something about your son's journey so far into your profile as it helps others when answering or looking for someone with a similar diagnosis. It also means that you don't have to keep repeating yourself. To do this click on your username and then select 'Edit 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.

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Sorry to be unclear. The hospital DO think it’s cancer even though they have never seen it in a kid before. 

I’m holding on to hope that they are wrong so it’s good to hear that others have been told it’s not cancer.  

Thank you. 

Hi

How are you and how's your son doing? Have you had the results back from the biopsy yet?

It would be really good if you could let us know how your son got on as often parents come here looking for help from other parents but nobody ever lets us know what the final outcome was. It would be great for future parents if you could let us know what happened.

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