SLNB -

Hi Rammy and a very warm welcome to the online community

I was diagnosed with a 1.45mm amelanotic melanoma 4 years ago and, like you, was offered the optional SLNB. 

My main worry was the possibility of lymphoedema so I talked it through with the surgeon who was going to do the operation. He reassured me that he'd done more than 500 SLNBs and that only a handful of people had been affected by lymphoedema. 

I don't know if it's still the case now but when I was diagnosed I was told that if I decided not to have a SLNB I might not be eligible for clinical trials if my melanoma was found in future to have spread.

Although I'm not a worrier I decided that if the melanoma did come back in the future and I hadn't had the SLNB I might regret the fact that I hadn't had it done and possibly found out earlier.

In the end, after weighing up the pros and cons, I decided to go ahead with the SLNB and didn't experience any problems. Also, thankfully, the biopsy came back as negative for melanoma cells.

You might find it useful to have a look through this decision aid that NICE has produced to help you decide whether to have the SLNB or not.

I'm happy to tell you about my personal experience with having the SLNB and WLE if you want any more information.

Do come back and let me know what you decide to do.

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Hi Rammy,

I've had two SLNB operations.

I was told that even if the necessary clear margins around the lesion have been successfully taken (which show that there is no local spreading), there is still a small chance of remote spreading. In general the nearest lymph node is the first place where you would expect any remote spread to occur. A clear SLNB tells you pretty categorically that there has been no remote spreading. On the other hand melanoma in the SLNB indicates that further treatment is needed.

My SNLB operations were under my arm and in my neck. I did not regret having these surgeries for the peace of mind they brought me afterwards.

Take care

Miranda

Many thanks for your reply. I’m pretty sure I’m going to go ahead and it’s very good to have this forum for reassurance 

Many thanks for your prompt reply. It was very reassuring and like you l am going to discuss this with my surgeon although l’m fairly sure that l am going ahead with the procedure

Hi Rammy, I noticed the NICE decision aid that  latchbrook gave you a link to is dated 2015 before adjuvant treatment and therefore doesn’t factor that aspect of a SLNB into the decision maker process. You may want to look at the patient decision aid from Melanoma Focus the link is below.

https://pda.melanomafocus.com

I haven’t had a SLNB but I have had a groin lymph node removed when it was the only one left not reducing after immunotherapy treatment. 

Hi Rammy

I've just re-read your post and thought I'd add that the results from your excision biopsy can't tell you that the melanoma hasn't spread as the pathologists are only looking at the lesion that's been removed. However, the SLNB can tell you if the melanoma has spread to your nearest lymph nodes.

You haven't said whereabouts on your body your melanoma was removed from as that depends where the SLNB will be performed. Mine was on my arm so that meant the nearest SLN was in my armpit. I recovered from the operation quickly but I understand it can be a longer period of recovery if the SLN is taken from somewhere like your groin, if the melanoma was on your leg.

It would be great if you could pop something about your journey so far into your profile as it really helps others when answering or looking for someone with a similar diagnosis. It also means that you don't have to keep repeating yourself. To do this click on your username and then select 'Profile'. You can amend it at any time and if you're not sure what to write you can take a look at mine by clicking on my username.

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