Hi everyone. What a journey I've been on and am still on. Was diagnosed with Stage 2C acral melanoma in 2020. As a result I lost half of a finger and had a SLNB done. Got the all clear and I thought happy days. From my SLNB I had a tiny pocket of fluid gather around the crease on my left arm close to elbow joint. This was when I noticed the pea sized lump. It was biopsied in July 2021 and it tuned out to be melanoma again. PET scan carried out and thankfully hadn't spread elsewhere. Surgery took place in October 2021 and I was then staged at 3C. Seen by oncology on my 50th birthday when I was told they would be starting me on immunotherapy in the next couple of weeks. Only managed one treatment due to bloods not being right. Full review by oncology at end March 2022 to be told that my CT scan picked up an enlarged lymph node in my armpit and they wanted it biopsy. Fast forward to today and I am recovering from removal of 2 more lumps around left elbow and axilla clearance and at home with drain. My results won't be available for possibly another 4 weeks.
I naively associated melanoma with moles probably like so many other people. My acral melanoma started like a rag nail and then got ulcerated. I had no discolouration to my nail.
Feels like I'm still on a long rollercoaster ride that has no stop.
Hi Jen55 and a very warm welcome to the online community which I hope you'll find is both an informative and supportive place to be.
I'm sorry to read that you're still having investigations after you original melanoma diagnosis and lots of people with a cancer diagnosis liken the experience to being on a rollercoaster.
My melanoma was also not the typical mole but an amelanotic melanoma which, in my case, was a pink lesion that the dermatologist didn't think was anything to worry about but would remove it to see what it was.
Let us know the results of your biopsy and, in the meantime, it would be great if you could pop something about your diagnosis and treatment so far into your profile as it really helps others when replying to you and also when looking for someone on 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"
