Never thought I would be posting anything like this
so here goes I’m andy I’m 28
this all started off with me getting a puppy over a year ago ( a pug)
anyway playing with my puppy one day she nibbled a mole on the back of my left ear it bled and scanned over I didn’t think anything of it!!
the mole went like a blood blister all inflamed with a giant head on it for about a week until I caught it one day and it bled non stop for hours! I managed to stop the bleeding and it eventually scanned over. After a couple of weeks the mole had gone back to normal me being me caught up in life didn’t think nothing of it like oh the dog caught it so it probably had a little infection etc
anyway I carried on with life as usual then around may/June this year I was shaving my beard and found a tiny pea shaped lump under my ear.. me still being me I ignored it completely forgot about it (yes I’m an idiot!) anyway I didn’t notice it getting bigger
in October I finally noticed it again the size of a marbal so I went to the doctors and got told it was a swollen glad 
ok mr doctor back to life as normal again caught up in the world of parenting and working fly forward to October when the lump is the size of a golf ball back to the doctors then refered for scans d a fine needle aspiration that came back positive for cancerous cells I was left from then until December for an actual biopsy! Anyway after nine stop scans blood tests 2 biopsy’s I’m left with a tnis ball size tumor on my neck a shadow of something on my spine and constant joint muscle and bone pain :( I’ve had the mole in my ear removed I’ve got a pet ct on the 5 of january as they think thcancer could of spread to my bone/spine && here’s the amazing part :( I have sergeant booked for the 11th january 2022 to remove the tumor in my next and all the lynthnodes close to the area BUT theumor has grown through / attached it’s self to the nerves and muscles that control my face :( met with the plastic surgeon who said it is a really risky surgery and there’s a 90% chances he will havto remove the muscles for my face I’m not going to lie I’ve ofically got my pooping pants on just thinking about this but life goes on! I’m staying positive I thought I would share my story so far as maybe it could help somebody on here
Hi like you everything happened very quickly although I didn’t suffer from the pains that you mention due to the melanoma itself. I did however go from being very active to housebound within a very short time due to the surgery. I have throughout maintained a very positive outlook and mindset and really focussed all my energy into being active again. My opinion is that you need a focus and to set yourself targets throughout and don’t be disappointed if you may happen to miss a few as your body needs time to adjust. If you click on my name you will see my bio ( which needs updating ) and you will see my journey in a little more detail. As mentioned before, if you want to know anything just ask and I will do my best if I can. There are no silly or wrong questions as I appreciate that you are probably mentally drained by the whole experience already, we are all here to help. Stay strong 
