Hello I was diagnosed with melenoma on Fri 19th August after they removed two moles from my back, I didn't even know they were there as I don't look at my back in the morrow and I live by myself
The small mole was 0.3mm but the bigger one was 1.2mm, after getting the news from the consultant, I went to talk to a specialist nurse who handed me a booklet, and some paperwork explaining the next procedure which is a WLE/SLNB
These couple of pages which I have just read are now causing me serious anxiety (I already suffer from mental health problems) the worst paragraph being the bottom one in the photo I have attached
Any advice would be most welcome at this time thank you
Hi Cosmos 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've recently been diagnosed with two melanomas and I know how scared you'll be feeling right now. I was diagnosed with a melanoma 1.45mm deep and ulcerated nearly 6 years ago now and had the follow-up WLE and SLNB that you'll be having shortly. I'm happy to share my experiences with those procedures if you'd like me to.
I was also given a leaflet which explained what would happen next and I also took the opportunity of chatting it through with my assigned skin cancer nurse specialist (SCNS), sometimes referred to as a key-worker.
However, my leaflet didn't include the survival statistics that yours does so I looked them up on Cancer Research UK and then wished I hadn't! After a while though I turned those statistics upside down and instead of reading that I had a 1 in 10 chance of dying within 10 years, even if the SLNB came back negative, and a 3 in 10 chance of dying if it came back positive, I read it as I had a 9 in 10 chance of surviving with a negative result and a 7 in 10 chance of surviving with a positive result. That made me feel a lot better!!
Don't forget as well that these statistics are based on historical figures and treatment for melanoma has come on in leaps and bounds with more than double the number of people (46% to 90%) surviving melanoma in the last 40 years. I can't see on your leaflet what dates these statistics are based on but currently the figures on the Cancer Research website are based on figures between 2013-2017 so already 5-9 years out of date.
Let us know when you have a date for your WLE and SLNB and do come back if you want to ask anything or just to have a rant.
(((hugs)))
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
