Groin Lymph Node Dissection - Post Op Questions

Hi macshimi, I noticed you were looking for information on infections, I wondered if you had thought of putting a question in the Ask a Nurse, the professional nurse volunteers on the site might have some experience from dealing with it. 

I haven’t had a full node dissection, I had only one removed, I sometimes rethink if I should have but then I remind myself that the decision was right for me at the time that I made it. I think I’m just saying it’s natural to go over the decision again especially when things go a bit pear shaped. 

Take care.

Thanks for the suggestion, . I will do that and post any interesting replies here.

Hi macshimi

How are you and has the infection and nerve pain got better? I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything's improving.

I noticed that you'd posted in the ask a nurse section of the community and that the nurse had said that there were specific painkillers for nerve pain. Did you have to try those in the end?

Take care

Thanks for asking. The pain is a bit better but still quite high at the old wide local excision scar. The GP would only agree to issue a lower dose of co-codamol despite me telling them that the side effects were bad. I haven't taken anything for the last two days to try and settle down my system.

That's not good news that the pain is still bad where you had your WLE macshimi 

If your GP is refusing to give you the specific painkillers for nerve pain that the nurse here in the online community suggested, could you speak to your SCNS and ask if your consultant can write you a prescription? It seems a shame if there's something available but for some reason your GP won't prescribe it.

Take care

Thanks, I'm seeing the consultant next week and I can speak to him. I don't know what a SCNS, so I probably don't have one!!

Morning macshimi

SCNS stands for skin cancer nurse specialist and you should have been given the contact details of one when you were first diagnosed with melanoma. She should be your point of contact if you have any problems eg. if you notice a change to your skin or lymph nodes. If you don't have the details of your hospital's SCNS then your consultant should be able to give them to you when you see him next week. Hopefully he'll also sort out your nerve pain as well. 

Let us know how you get on

x

Something else to add to the list of questions; thanks fir the help!

An update. I met with my oncologist for the first time on Friday and she was brilliant. A full understanding of my past medical history of Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and colon removal.

Unlike the surgeon she was ready to discuss everything in detail.

She told me that I had had 8 lymph nodes removed and one was badly infected (?) with Melanoma and that it was Stage III BRAF positive, which was news to me.

Because of my UC, I can't have any immunology treatment and only Dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and Trametinib (Mekinst) is possible. The side effects are horrendous and I don't have much time to decide as treatment must start within 12 weeks of the lymph node operation.

The oncologist has arranged a telephone consultation for this coming Thursday.

I have posted some question on a separate thread, but the remaining one will be asked on Thursday - how is the life expectancy with and without the treatment because that really determines whether the side effects are worth it.

The good news is that I not one but two Skin Cancer Nurse Specialists!

Hi macshimithat sounds like quite a lot of information to get your head around. As far as I know, Dab and Tram is the standard  therapy now for Braf positive rumours, so I’m not certain that’s entirely due to your UC. I guess the likelihood of side effects is greater though, if you already have that to deal with.

The NICE guidance includes a summary of the available evidence for each type of treatment - if you wanted to look before your consultation. I won’t link to it though in case you’d rather wait and just discuss it with your oncologist. 
Tricky decisions to be made! Although unlike surgery, with drug treatment you can just stop if the side effects are too much.

Hopefully you’ll be convinced one way or the other and not too torn. Best of luck, and as ever, let us know how you get on.

x