Hello, I'm 29 years old and 5 month postpartum. I wanna say that I had a mole that only changed during pregnancy but that would be a lie cause I've noticed it for years and never done anything about it. During pregnancy it started scabbing and bleeding but after my son was born it went back to normal. In November I went to the dermatologist and she said it was an A typical mole but she would remove it anyway. The results came back as a 0.9mm melanoma.
I had an appointment the other day with the surgeon who told me my mole was intermediate and I'm high risk of the cancer returning due to my age and skin type (I'm a red head). The whole appointment he was so somber and depressing and spoke about worst case scenarios. I get it he can't say I'm gonna be fine but a little positivity would go a long way. I'm absolutely pooping myself that I'm not going to see my little boy grow up. I'm due to get the WLE and Sentinel node biopsy next month.
Hi Gingermama93 and a very warm welcome to the online community which I hope you'll both find is both an informative and supportive place to be.
I'm sorry to read that you've recently been diagnosed with melanoma and, having had this myself, I have some idea of the emotions you're going through at the moment.
I too had a WLE and SLNB so I'm happy to share my experiences with those procedures if there's anything you want to ask.
I can see that you've joined the melanoma forum which you'll find is a great place to ask questions, share experiences and get support from others who have this type of skin cancer.
Unfortunately, it is true that if you've had one skin cancer you're more likely to get another one. Hopefully you've been given an information sheet on how to protect your skin from the sun in future but, if not, just let me know and I'll be happy to share this with you.
When you have a moment, it would be great if you could put something about your diagnosis and treatment 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"
I tried really hard to focus on doing anything that didn't give me time to sit around wondering 'what if'. So I threw myself into my hobbies, meeting and talking to friends, watching good stuff on TV, etc.
What I avoided doing was 'googling' as that will always bring up horror stories and it's hard to find anything positive. This isn't because there are no positive melanoma stories but newsfeeds, etc like to tell 'bad' stories as they feel more people will read them.
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"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
Hello,
I can’t help too much with the medical side of things I’m afraid but just wanted to reach out to offer some solidarity as I’m in a very similar position. 33 years old with a 2.5 year old and having a WLE and SLNB next month too.
It’s a very anxious time and it’s a really tricky balance to find between yes this is serious but also not letting it become all consuming.
I don’t have the answers unfortunately but just letting you know that you’re not alone 
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