Stage 1 Melanoma experience

Hello all. When I first started looking at this community, I really wanted to find someone’s whole journey in one post. Every time I read stories of people who were at the same stage as me it seemed to scare me more than provide much reassurance. So I decided to post my story so far in the hope that if someone else like me is reading, they find it helpful.

I’m in my mid forties, always had to be careful in the sun but probably not as careful in my youth as I should have been. I’d had a feeling a mole on my face was different but my partner said otherwise and I believed him. Something made me look closely in July this year and I didn’t like what I saw so I submitted an e-consult to my GP practice. Received a phone call from a GP who said he would like to make a  2 week referral for me to see a dermatologist but I wasn’t to worry too much. I saw a plastic surgeon within the 2 weeks who said he thought it should be removed and sent for biopsy. I wasn’t really surprised, I knew it was hard to diagnose just by looking, but a bit of me was hoping he would tell me “it’s fine, nothing to worry about”. 2 weeks after that I was back at the hospital to have the mole removed under local anaesthetic. I’m not going to lie - it wasn’t nice. Not because it hurt or was painful, but because I’d never had anything surgical done before so it was all new and my brain was visually imagining what was going on, which was not good. The local anaesthetic going in was by far the most painful/uncomfortable bit of the procedure. It leaves you numb and feeling no pain but you can sense what they are doing - it’s quite hard to explain. I started to feel my surgeon as she was putting the stitches in so had to have more anaesthetic - I tried to be brave but surrendered eventually! I had dissolvable stitches and some micropore tape and told to see the practice nurse in a week to check the wound. I wouldn’t say it hurt when I got home, I certainly didn’t need to take any painkillers, but it was a bit sore and tender. Then after a couple of days it starting to feel like it was fizzing and tingling, but I’m assured that is the skin healing. I also had a bit of swelling but that went down after a few days. I saw the nurse after 7 days and was amazed at how the wound looked after she took the tape off. I was expecting some kind of Frankenstein scar but all the stitches had gone, it was clean and had healed over nicely according to the nurse. You ought to follow the advice you are given re wound/ scar care but I started using E45 and massaging after 4 weeks and was fine.

The wait for the biopsy result appointment wasn’t too bad, but I’m good at putting stuff in a box until it needs dealing with. Everyone is different so do what you need to do to get through. Keep busy, exercise, meditate, talk - whatever works for you. My appointment was 6 weeks after my procedure and I was anxious. I could feel my heart pounding as I sat in the waiting area. Unfortunately, the original histology report was unclear so my sample had been sent away for an external opinion. I didn’t know what to make of this and the consultant wasn’t giving much away but as there was nothing I could do I just had to wait another 4 weeks. I told myself at least they want to be sure and the multi-disciplinary team would be reviewing my case. I had to wait another 4 weeks and then back to the hospital. Once again I put it in the box because there was nothing I could do, and although I wanted to educate myself about possible next steps, I only seemed to find horror stories which did not help.

I got the news I didn’t want - stage 1 malignant melanoma. It felt like I had to drag a lot of info out of the consultant, am so glad I went prepared with all my questions. But as a result I knew it was 0.4mm and stage 1 with no suspicion it had gone to my lymph nodes. I was scared. And a bit shell shocked. So if you are too, that’s OK. Next stage was a wide local excision to remove enough for them to be confident it had all gone. Was told this would be under local too and so I expected it to be much the same as first time, in and out in an hour. But nope, had to attend a day surgery unit at 11am and was warned I might not be seen for 4 or 5 hours. Luckily I was first on the list but still felt scared as I walked down the corridor in my hospital gown. Each hospital might be different but it was a surprise to be hooked up to a blood pressure monitor and heart rate monitor throughout the procedure. I could hear my heart rate increasing which I’m sure only made it go even faster! It wasn’t too different to the first excision but obviously they took more away and again, won’t lie, at times it really felt like she was tugging to pull my skin together. I hated every minute of it but it was done in and hour and this time I had dissolvable internal stitches and normal external stitches. Within an hour I was home and feeling more sore than last time but no real pain. As my incision went up under my eye there was more swelling and bruising but this went down after 4 days. My face felt tighter but I was told to expect it and that it would relax over time. I know everyone is different but my mole was about 7mm, the first scar was about 3cm long and this one  now is about 7.5cm. 

Once again I had to play the waiting came for the biopsy results and I seemed to be more anxious this time. I knew going in for more excision was an option but  wasn’t sure how much give there was in my face for another procedure. I was also terrified that they would tell me it was worse than stage 1 and that it might have spread. 4 weeks later I received the news that there are no more residual cancer cells - what a relief! 

And that was the news I got last Friday. I realise I’m lucky, my cancer didn’t make me feel ill,  it was treated quickly and decisively by being cut out. But I’ve had cancer nevertheless and that scares me. It scared my family too and I feel sorry for that even though it’s not my fault. So now I start the next phase which involves seeing my consultant every 3 months over the next 3 years, then dropping to every 6 months for another 2 years. I might not have been ill with cancer but my diagnosis has changed my life and I think I am still coming to terms with that. I hope that I become vigilant, aware and proactive rather than scared, paranoid and obsessive about my moles - I have a lot of them to monitor!

So that’s my story so far, going from GP to surgery to diagnosis to more surgery to being cancer free in just over 4 months. I wanted to read this post when I first started out - if it helps you today, I’m glad I shared. I’m not sure I feel able to give advice other than be careful where you go to seek information - the internet is a scary place! Stick to the experts like Macmillan - I found they provided the most balanced information and support and that’s what I needed to read. 

Good luck with your journey....