In some ways I feel lucky. At the beginning of last year I was with my Mum when she got her melanoma diagnosis (all removed and she is fine, she declined SLNB as she is getting on for ninety). At that appointment the nurses noticed a patch of discolouration on my cheek which they said I should have checked out. The consultant agreed that it should be incised, I asked him to look at another mole near my ear but he was not concerned about that one. I went on the waiting list, after 18 months I decided to go private as I was getting more concerned and there was no indication of when the procedure would be carried out. I was seen within a few days and a couple of weeks later I had the suspicious looking thing removed, he also took a punch biopsy of the mole but he did not think it was anything. The suspicious looking thing turned out to be a freckle but the punch biopsy from what looked like an ordinary mole turned out to be a melanoma. A few weeks later the whole thing was incised and it looked like the end of what I needed to be done. The melanoma was thin, about 0.3mm so I did not require SLNB.
Last week I got a call from my consultant, after further tests and discussion with the MDT I need a more extensive wide local incision which is in two weeks time. This is an Amelanotic Melanoma, the melanoma cells cannot produce mature melanin granules so it is more difficult to spot and diagnose, so I am lucky that he took that punch biopsy, and as a result that it has been caught at an early stage.
Hi NPH89 and a very warm welcome to the online community
My melanoma was also an amelanotic melanoma so you and I are part of an exclusive club, although one which I'm sure neither of us wanted to join!
I just wanted to reassure you that the wide local excision (WLE) you're having in a couple of weeks time is standard procedure for everyone who's been diagnosed with melanoma no matter how thin or thick it is. As you don't need a SLNB it'll probably be done under a local anaesthetic just like your original excision.
If you want to ask any questions about the procedure or your diagnosis please do as there's nearly always someone in the group who has the experience.
It would be great if you could pop something about your diagnosis and treatment into your profile as it really helps others when answering or looking for someone with a similar pathway. 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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"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
