Good evening
So had results back yesterday, felt a bit overwhelming as i was diagnosed as stage 2 melonoma that had ulcerated ,with tumour depth 1.6 mm. Now waiting to get a date for surgery and snlb. so worried it might of spread even though dermatologists said it would only be 15 percent chance of spreading.
Any info would be gratefully received.
Hi 46 male
I'm not surprised that you're feeling a bit overwhelmed. I remember only too well how shocked I felt when I was told 3 years ago that I had melanoma. Mine was 1.45mm and ulcerated so I had a WLE and SLNB.
What sort of information are you after?
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
Yes I remained at stage 2 as no melanoma cells were found in my WLE or SLNB. You would remain the same if your WLE and SLNB were negative too.
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
I was worried about the diagnosis but once I'd had time to process the information I didn't really worry that it might have spread.
I took the opportunity of going and having a chat with my skin cancer nurse specialist (SCNS) and she helped put everything in perspective for me. I think it helped that I'm a naturally optimistic person so I didn't allow myself to go down the track of worrying about what if. I was also in the process of moving house so that helped to take my mind off things.
It's natural to worry that it might have spread though and lots of people come to this group worried about spread. My best advice would be to occupy yourself in whatever way you can, ie work, hobbies, going out with friends, etc so that your mind is too occupied to start wandering down the what if path.
When I was diagnosed I didn't know this community existed so instead of discussing any worries I had here my poor husband had to listen to me!
Do you have a date for your WLE and SLNB?
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
My consultant didn't tell me what stage I was, only the depth, and I didn't know it was ulcerated either. It was only after I knew I was clear that I realised it had been ulcerated so I didn't have that to worry about.
You are right that an ulcerated melanoma is worse than an non-ulcerated melanoma but I'm sure there will be plenty of other people, like me, whose melanoma was ulcerated and are still clear years later. In my case I'm coming up to the end of my first 3 years of follow-up and, touch wood, everything is still okay.
My next check-up is next week and I won't lie I do get a little apprehensive before hand even if I don't have anything to report.
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
