Melanoma diagnosis - age 29

The mole was found on my scalp. 

So sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I’m 29 and also in the same boat but just waiting for contact from the cancer hospital still after having a mole removed at the end of November. It’s a massive shock being told but I promise it will get easier for you to deal with. I didn’t sleep for a couple of weeks but feeling a lot more calm about it all now. Sounds really good that they’re moving so fast, hope it all goes well and just try not to let your imagination run wild (easier said than done I know!) xxx

Hi Sophie - thanks so much for reaching out. It helps that people are in the same boat - though I wish it wasn’t the case! The fact it’s all happened so quickly and that I need an MRI has scared me a bit as it must be quite advanced. I haven’t actually been told my stage yet. But I’m really worried :( xx

hope you receive good news xx

You’re definitely not alone. It’s so worrying isn’t it. Feel free to message me any time or if you need help with anxiety speak to your gp. I got a prescription for propanalol and it calmed me right down. I know medication isn’t for everyone but if you really can’t sleep or calm down it really helped me. Someone told me to distract myself with doing things I enjoy which might also help once you’re over the initial shock xx

Thank you so much xx I’m literally just waiting to have my MRI scan now - it just seems so serious and makes me feel sick!

wishing us both luck xx 

Good luck Sarah, it will be a bit noisy so think of some nice tunes that might fit the beat of the thumps you might hear. I had a noisy liver MRI just in case last year, nothing of concern was found

Sarah_star please don't panic about the MRI. We all get them.  That's because melanoma does travel along the lymph system and often to the brain. Diagnosed in March/April I had my first lot- MRI, CT and PET. I then had another MRI in September then another in December (three monthly check up one).  Take care xxx

Thank you for replying! It means a lot. I haven’t actually been told the stage of melanoma yet. I have an appointment on Thursday to discuss everything. 

Did you have a node biopsy? I haven’t had that and haven’t been told I’m having one.

I’m having more surgery on the skin around the removed mole on my scalp on Friday. 

it’s all happening so quickly. 

do MRI scan show spread to nodes ? X

I think it's the CT scans that show the lymph nodes affected better. Sounds like you have a WLE op on your scalp on Friday. Wide local excision=WLE.

So you have an initial diagnosis but not yet staging.  The depth of the melanoma on your scalp gives a score on the Breslow scale plus it can reduce the risk of any localised spreading and there can be a sentinel lymph node biopsy done to determine the stage. If your Breslow score is really low they may not feel there is a need to do a node biopsy as the risk of spread via lymph is small.  See the NICE  guidelines, you can check out online for the correct proceedures to follow for each staging. The sentinel node will be the first node your melanoma drains to and this is found by injecting a radioactive material into the exact spot your initial mole was found plus on the op day(if they are doing the SLNB) a blue dye is injected into the same site. So the node first reached by the mole will be flagged up. Surgeons take out that one and a few others to test for melanoma and for BRAF (a genetic code which means you'll have access to targeted therapy plus immunotherapy).

I'm sure you'll have a clearer picture on Thursday hon.  It's all standard proceedures you're going through right now.  Good luck and take care. Xx

Thank you so much. Just all a bit of a shock. As I had satellites - I'm pretty sure it's stage 3 :(. I hope my scans come back clear. Feeling really low about it all. You never think it's going to be you and I'm not ready to leave the earth yet. I still want to get married and have kids :(.

xx