New here - husband having WLE and SLNB today

Hi Yorkie16,

I am so sorry to hear that your husband is going through this. 33 is indeed young but a clear CT scan is very good news.

Concerning the number of nodes being removed, the location of the mole means that the closest nodes are in the groin areas. The network of lymph nodes is different in everyone and not necessarily symmetrical in a given person. It sounds as if there are two sentinel nodes on one side and one on the other. I had two sentinel nodes  under my arm for example but only one in my neck.

I did not have nodes removed from my groin but I did have a BCC removed from the groin area on both sides in two separate surgeries. That was a much more superficial surgery than an SLNB and it took a long time to heal. But if the nodes to be removed are near the surface then the surgery may not be very invasive at all. You will know more after the surgery.

Your husband is younger but he should not be doing anything that pulls on that area or causes pain until the stitches are out and the wound has healed. The skin is very thin in that area and even just walking will be painful at first. The stitches should not be removed too soon. They were removed after 5 days for my first BCC which was way too early. The wound took 5 months to heal. For the second they waited for 10 days before removing the stiches and the wound healed up completely after about 3 weeks. Even if there are no external stitches you still need to be very careful. Your husband needs to strictly follow the advice he is given to ensure a rapid recovery. I would not imagine that returning to work after a week is possible. Even if he does not ask many questions, this is definitely one he needs to ask so that he can inform his employer.

I'll let someone else comment on the waiting time as I am not in the UK.

I understand that not having answers to your questions is very tough but I can understand your husband's approach too. We all react differently and do what we can to ensure we get through this. 

I hope all goes well for the surgery and wish your husband a speedy recovery.

Take care

Miranda

Hi Yorkie16,

I was diagnosed with 1b melanoma on my left tight just above my knee, back in August. You can see my timeline on my profile.

I'd like to say that myself and my partner approached my diagnosis differently at first, but after a while we both were able to talk about it openly and found a way to work together. 

I'll try to answer your Qs. 

Node removal numbers and area depends to one's lymphatic system, that's why it may be different for everyone. Special dye is injected at the mole area, it is followed through lymphatic system to illuminate the lymph nodes that malignant cells might have travelled/arrived, if there was a spread. Then they remove highlighted lymph nodes and do biopsy to investigate for malignant cells. I had one lymph node removed from my groin. 

So, recovery from it was longer than a week, I'd suggest he speaks to his consultant. I was in bed keeping my leg elevated for a full week and second week started to move around the house. I was told no heavy lifting, running, cycling and swimming for 6 weeks. At week 4 I was able to move around normally but at my slower usual pace. Groin area where SLNB was done was not painful but tight at times. Week 6 is back to normal. 

Wait for the results totally depends to your hospital. Some have long waiting times, some are faster. I had my pathology results on the 10th day though my GP (when my stitches were removed) and on the 2nd week of my surgery seen the surgeon to explain. But from what I can see form the forum posts, some hospitals have 6-8 weeks waiting time. 

Hope this helps a bit and it all goes well for both you and your husband. 

Hi Miranda, 

Thank you for your reply. The surgery today went well and he’s home now resting. I appreciate your advice and answers to my questions. Now begins the wait for the results. 

Best wishes, 

Thank you Elmyra. All went well with the surgery so now Hoping for a smooth recovery for him. He doesn’t do well with not being active. He hasn’t been given any specific information about keep his legs elevated and has been moving around tonight, but it is painful. Thank you for giving me answers to my questions. It’s appreciated. 

Hello,

im new to this group but on 19th November I also had a WLE and a SLNB during which I also had 3 lymph nodes removed which were identified from the nuclear material injected at the site of the mole. Mine were all on the same side of my groin  but surgeon had prepared me that it might be just 1 LN or possibly more. It’s incredible how it works isn’t it? They then double check the nuclear test with the blue dye injected during surgery which confirms the results. 

how is your husband feeling? I’m 6 days post op and have been mobile ever since the op with no pain and just general discomfort. I have been super tired but today I do feel my energy coming back. It’s hard to take it easy. I drove for the first time today which was also fine. I’ve been able to walk the dog too. 

I do get bloated very easily across my groin and feel generally crampy which I guess I to be expected.

hope you are both doing ok waiting for the results - I expect mine in 2-3 weeks

Hi, 

Thanks for your reply. Sorry to hear you’re going through the same thing. I hope you’re continuing to recover well from surgery. 

My husband is almost  three weeks post op and is mostly healing well. He’s currently on antibiotics after the wounds became infected, but he’s mostly pain free.

Still waiting for results and hoping no news means good news! It’s hard having this ‘cloud’ hanging over us on the approach to Christmas. So grateful for our young children who are keeping us going! 

Take care x 

Sorry to hear that and know exactly how you are feeling! My husband had his wide level excision in September and we’ve just been to the hospital today (10 December) for the results of a CT scan. Thankfully the cancer hasn’t spread further than the nearest lymph node which was removed at the same time as the wide level excision. It’s a scary time which seems to take forever! The waiting is the worst. I feel better now we know what we’re dealing with (stage 3B ) and are now trying to decide whether to go for immunotherapy or targeted cancer therapy. I deal with it by researching everything whereas my husband prefers not to! We’re all different. Hope it turns out ok for you both. 

Hi Yorkie16

How are you? I hope you and your husband had an enjoyable Christmas.

Has he had the results of his WLE and SLNB yet?

x

Hi Latchbrook,

I’m not great, truth be told. We’ve had a really rough couple of weeks. Had the results and unfortunately 2 of the three lymph nodes removed were cancerous.  One of which had a growth of 2mm. This news has devastated us.

My husband is now waiting for MRI/PET scans - they should’ve been this last week, but to add insult to injury we tested positive for covid last Sunday. He missed his scans and we had to cancel all our Christmas plans. He has a PET scan on 6th Jan and still waiting for new MRI date. 

We are exhausted with everything and struggling day to day to keep positive. It really doesn’t feel like Christmas this year and my husband has said he’s worried this might be his last - which doesn’t bare thinking about!! 

Thanks for checking in. Hope you’re ok. 

Hi Yorkie16

I'm so sorry to read what a rough couple of weeks you've had and how you're struggling to remain positive in the face of the news your husband has had.

I think a lot of us here will identify with your husband's worry that this might have been in his last Christmas. I remember having those thoughts when I was diagnosed and waiting for my WLE and SLNB. Fortunately 5 years later I'm still here.

The thing to remember is that there are so many treatments available for melanoma these days which were just a few years ago only available as part of a trial. Once you know what treatment is proposed for your husband please do start a new post in the group asking about it as you'll find lots of people here who are on one drug or another.

I'm going to suggest that you might also like to join the carers only group. I hope you're finding the melanoma group a great place to talk about the treatment side of cancer. The carers group would give you a chance to talk to others who have a loved one living with cancer and is a safe place to discuss your worries and emotions. 

If this is something that you'd like to do clicking on the link I've created will take you straight there where you can join and post in the same way as you did here.

Please do come back and let us know how your husband's scans go and I hope you'll both quickly recover from covid.

(((((hugs)))))