My story and assistance

rlamann · Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 12:46 am Post subject: My story and assistance

Hi,

I'm a 31 yr. old white, red headed male. About 3 weeks ago I was diagnosed with a 1.4 mm melanoma on my right ankle. Today, I went for a PET scan and should get the results in a day or two. I am scheduled for surgery next Tuesday. They will be doing a sentinal lymph node biopsy and also removing about 2-3 cm around the melanoma site. I have been reading a lot of stuff on the web and have been worrying constantly (in my nature). I was just wondering if anyone has been through a similar situation like mine at what the outcome was. Myself and my family and friends are praying for a total cure, but it's just scary. I'm sad, I don't have any kids and I'm not married. I want to get married and have kids someday. I've seen survival rates out there for 5 yrs and 10 yrs with my thickness, but I"m not sure how accurate they are. Thanks for any feedback.

God Bless,
Roger

Kaelie · Regular Joined: 11 May 2005 Posts: 29

I had a slightly similar situation.

You didn't mention (or didn't know) the depth of your melanoma. That is a key component in determining stage and prognosis, as I'm sure your docs have told you.

My depth was 1.5mm, size was about 1.2 cm. It was located on my hip/thigh area, and the sentinal lymph node was removed during the wide area excision surgery. The scar from the wide area excision is roughly 14 inches long.

I was able to get out without any chemo.... both my surgeon and GP advised against even going to an oncologist. I am at the 1-year mark and about to see a dermatologist (for the first time) and really questioning the standard of care that I got.

I was left with massive nerve damage from the surgery. I don't know what was cut, but my whole right leg is so sensitive that wind and clothes hurt.

I know my response to your concerns is probably a bit late, and I hope that your surgery has gone better than mine did. Let me help you by saying this though... do not let your surgeon dismiss any of your concerns. If you feel any tingling or numbness tell him. Be very assertive! Nerve damage must be fixed asap or else it is permanent.

Good luck. My thoughts are with you.

~Kaelie

farsout68 · New User Joined: 27 Jun 2006 Posts: 3

Hi guys,

I just had a melanoma removed from my right cheek. I'm documenting the whole experience on my website if your interested:

http://www.experimentmonkey.com/category/melanoma/

P.S. I came across something called a black salve and found a website with some amazing/scary stuff. The site is located at http://www.cancerx.org

I wanted to try it, but I was too scared to be honest. My melanoma was only .70mm thick (thin) so I went the traditional route.

Good luck,
Farsout

wrxy2 · New User Joined: 30 Aug 2007 Posts: 1

Kaelie,

I'm interested in your comments on the nerve damage. I've recently (10 weeks postop) had [b]all [/b] the lymph glands removed from my right groin due to melanoma, and I'm still getting a lot of pain in my knee, calf, and foot, but no pain in the surgical area. The pain is limiting my range of motion. My surgeon dismissed it as normal nerve damage and said it would pass. My leg is still swollen and I thought was the cause of the pain, but I've been shown lymphatic drainage massage techniques and I've been using them to reduce the swelling overnight, but it's not reducing the pain much. In addition, my leg swells back up during the day with activity. You seem very knowledgeable. Can you offer any suggestions or point me to websites that might help?

Thanks.

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