Waiting

Hi  and welcome to the online community

I'm sorry to hear that your partner has recently been diagnosed with melanoma. It must be a very hard time for you both and it's natural that you want to know how you can support him.

I was diagnosed with melanoma 3 years ago so I'm saying this from the patient's point of view. All I needed from my husband at that time was for him to listen to me when I wanted to talk. He also drove me to any appointments I had, so I didn't need to stress over finding somewhere to park, and came in with me to act as another pair of ears as there can be a lot of information to take in.

There is really no need to be absolutely terrified about the next steps and I'm saying that as I took them! When you see the consultant on Friday he will probably talk to your partner about having a wide local excision (WLE) and possibly a sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB). The latter depends on how deep the melanoma is. If he doesn't need a SLNB, or chooses not to have one, then the WLE is done under a local anaesthetic just like his original excision. The surgeon takes away a further 1-2cm all around to make sure there are no stray cells.

If your partner has a SLNB this will be done at the same time as the WLE and will be done under a general anaesthetic. I've had both of these procedures so if you want to quiz me about them please go ahead.

As long as the biopsies from these come back clear then that is the end of the treatment and your partner will go on to have 3 monthly check-ups for either a year or 5 years, again depending on what stage the melanoma was.

I suspect that the reading you've been doing is on google and I'd strongly advise that you stop. If you want to research melanoma and it's treatments then stick to reputable sites like this one or Cancer Research UK. Although you'll find lots of information on google a lot of it is out of date and, of course, only gives you the worse-case scenarios. For the majority of people a WLE is all the follow-up treatment that they'll need and I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that this is the case for your partner.

Sending a supportive ((hug))

Thank you so much for your reply latchbrook. I didnt realise anyone had responded so did another post further up. I've noticed a black dot in his biopsy scar it's sort of a hole but black. I know I'm probably overthinking everything at the minute but I'm driving myself crackers. I keep thinking worst case scenario but putting on a brave face for him. Thanks again for responding 

Hi

You should have received an email advising you that you'd had a response as long as you didn't untick the box at the end of your post that says "email me replies to this post". You could also check on your home page that you have the 'get emails' box ticked. To do this click on your username and then under 'profile settings' choose 'manage notifications' and then you'll see 'email notifications'. This box is automatically set to 'get emails' unless you turned it off when you set up your account.

I'm not medically trained so I don't know what the black hole in the middle of your partner's biopsy scar is but it could just be the last bit of the scab that would have formed.

When he goes for his appointment on Friday they'll probably want to check his wound but, if not, make sure that he points out this bit that's worrying you.

I know that waiting to find out what happens next can be a very worrying time but try not to dwell on it too much as it won't change the future but will ruin today!

Let us know how you get on on Friday

x

Thank you Latchbrook,

Still finding my way around here haha. I will be sure to update you. Thanks for your reply. 

Hi

How did it go when you met with the consultant to discuss your partner's results?

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