Hi there I am in the process of waiting for a final diagnosis of nail melanoma. I have been waiting 8 weeks now for someone to tell me what is going on and I'm really not dealing with it very well.
I managed to find my patient records on my GPs webpage and I found the letter from the pathologist stating that it was melanoma in situ but no one has actually told me this yet and I have to wait another week or so for the consultant to see me and discuss it further.
I suffer with clinical depression and anxiety and I just dont feel I'm getting any answers or support and its making me sick with worry.
Please can someone try and explain to me what this could all mean? Thanks
Hi and welcome to the online community
Waiting for results is really horrible and something we all have to go through. I waited about 6 weeks for my results to come back so do understand how you're feeling. Sometimes melanoma biopsies have to be sent off to a second lab for confirmation one way or another because occasionally a second opinion is needed. Then when the results are back there will be a multidisciplinary team (MDT) meeting to decide the best course of action, all of which adds delay.
If it's confirmed that you have melanoma in situ then this is the best result you can get without being told that you don't have melanoma at all. If you click here it will take you to a more detailed explanation of what melanoma in situ is but, put simply, it means that the cancer cells are confined to the top layer of the skin, are all contained in the area in which they began to develop and have not started to spread or grow into deeper layers of the skin and have not become invasive.
If this is the case this is great news as there are no blood or lymphatic channels in the top layer of the skin via which the abnormal cells can spread. Some doctors call in situ cancers ‘pre-cancer’. Melanoma in situ can be cured completely by cutting it out and no follow-up treatment is required.
I do hope that you come back and tell us that your consultant confirms what you've read in your patient records.
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
I'm glad you found my explanation helpful but please remember I'm not a medical person and I'm only going by what you said your report says. Only your consultant can actually tell you what your biopsy results have revealed.
It's perfectly normal not to hear from the hospital until you have your appointment with your consultant which I think you said is next week.
I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for you.
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
Hi
I was wondering how you're doing and if you've seen the consultant for your results yet?
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"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
Glad to hear it's definitely been confirmed as melanoma in situ . You can relax and have an enjoyable Christmas now before you have your excision afterwards.
Do let us know how you get on.
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
Hi
It's really horrible and stressful when treatment plans are changed. Did you ask the surgeon why he wanted to do an x-ray and possibly amputate your finger? If not, give your CNS a call and she should be able to answer your questions.
It's good that you're having a second opinion as the other surgeon might not feel that this is necessary.
Do come back and let us know what your CNS says. In the meantime try and have a relaxing Christmas.
xx
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
Hi
That's good news that the x-rays of your finger are fine and that you are being referred to a consultant who specialises in melanoma.
It's natural to worry that the delay in having your wide local excision (WLE) could mean that the melanoma will get bigger and spread. When you had the first excision the melanoma was removed and the WLE was explained to me as a "belt and braces" approach to make sure that there were no stray cells in the surrounding tissues. So as the melanoma has been removed it can't grow bigger. Like you, my melanoma (Stage 2a) was removed in October and I didn't have my WLE until mid-February. It's quite normal for there to be this sort of time gap between the original excision and the follow-up.
I'm not sure where you've read that melanoma in situ can spread because that's not something that I've seen so would be grateful for the link.
BADs (British Association of Dermatologists) leaflet on melanoma in situ (link) says that "there are no blood or lymphatic channels in the top layer of the skin via which the abnormal cells can spread". Cancer Research says "although the cells are cancerous, they cannot spread to other parts of the body, so in situ cancers are not a cancer in the true sense" while Macmillan describes melanoma in situ as "the melanoma cells are only in the top layer of skin and have not started to spread into the lower layer of the skin." Hopefully these quotes will go someway to reassuring you.
Obviously the decision on whether to pay to have the excision done privately is completely up to you but personally I'd treat myself with the money I'd save on new clothes and hats to protect my skin from the sun!
Let us know what you decide to do
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"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
