Hi,
Back in Aug/Sep 2023, I had a 5mm punch biopsy, which found a Malignant Melanocytic lesion I then had a 2cm wide local excision and sentinel lymph node biopsy, as well as a skin graft on my right shin. This was a Stage 1B
About a month ago, a lump appeared, so I went straight to the NHS Cancer team and they did another biopsy and it came back as Malignant Melanoma, thickness at least 1.6mm. I then had an MRI scan which came back clean, and a CT scan which came back clean, but what I thought was odd was that the CT scan only did my groin and up, and it didn't scan my legs, which, considering that is where the cancer is I thought was odd. The good news is that it hasn't spread but it is now called as a Stage 3B, which is concerning.,
I am due for my second surgery at the end of this month, but this time they won't be removing a lymph node so I believe this will be done with me awake.
I have some private healthcare with my work, so I have an appointment this week and thought I would go over it with them and see what they say, and maybe they would do a full CT scan, I doubt they would be able to get the surgery done any faster as from the date of this, it is in 12 days time.
Afterwards, they said I will need to go on either a tablet a day OR go to the hospital, and I think they said every 6 weeks have an intravenous drug but they said they would talk about that after the operation as there are pros and cons of each one.
My questions I can think to ask are:
Does anyone have any advice on things to ask that I might have missed, and what the daily drug / intravenous drug they are talking about and does anyone recommend either one?
Anything comments or suggestions are welcome.
Hi nick1982611867 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 was diagnosed with Stage 2a melanoma nearly 9 years ago now and had the same wide local excision (WLE) and sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) that you had.
It must be very upsetting to get a second melanoma diagnosis and it's natural to have lots of questions. Can I recommend that you also join and post in the melanoma group as you'll then connect directly with others who have the same type of cancer as you and who can share their experience of treatment for Stage 3.
To join, just click on the link I've created and, once you've joined, you can start a new post in the same way as you did here and join in with existing conversations by clicking on 'reply'.
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.
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
