› Forums › Cutaneous Melanoma Community › New, In situ but freaking out
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- August 10, 2015 at 6:57 pm
Hi, so thankful to find this group. I'm 39 and on July 27th was diagnosed with melanoma in situ, had a WLE the next day. I don't have the pathology back for that yet. Pure chance that I asked my regular derm to look at the funny mole on my calf–she biopsied it immediately. I have no family history of melanoma, no tanning beds ever, but a few sunburns I can remember and I've lived in SoCal for 15 years. Still, I was absolutely shocked at the diagnoses.
I went to a derm specializing in skin cancer and had two other 2mm moles removed and am awaiting those results as well. She referred me to an oncologist here who is a melanoma specialist just to get any questions answered, etc. and I see him Wednesday.
In the meantime, I'm freaking out. I have a three year old. We were going to try for another baby and now I'm scared to do that. I'm rereading my biopsy obsessively, as the dr. who did my WLE barely discussed it with me. I'm posting it below if anyone has any feedback…it SEEMS good, but my biggest fear is it'll be more advanced after the WLE pathology. WHY DOES IT TAKE SO LONG?! Ugh.
Melanoma In Situ
R/O DN VS MIS 4mm
There is an asymmetric proliferation of atypical melanocytes arranged as irregular nests and single cells along the dermalepidernmal junction as well as above it. In some areas there is more uniform arrangement of junctional nests and intradermal melanocytes in the form of a preexisting dysplastic nevus. Heavily pigmented melanophages are present in the dermis. The atypical junctional melaoncytes extend to the lateral margins. A severely dysplastic nevus was considered, but given the extensive pagetoid spread, a melanoma in situ arising in a compound dysplastic nevus is favored.
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- August 10, 2015 at 7:41 pm
So in the interim of posting this, I got the call on the WLE…all clear, no residual melanoma. Whew. What a relief that is.
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- August 11, 2015 at 8:13 am
OK, Amy, the melanoma club is one that none of us want to be in, but if you must be here, then in situ is BY FAR the way to go. An in situ melanoma does not have the mechanism to spread/metastasise – once it's gone (as yours is), it's gone. Your job now is to focus on some kind of vigilance with skin checking that you can live with – I imagine for in situ that means 6 monthly derm checks – as well as keep an eye on your skin (say, with a good check once per month) and act immediately if anything new pops up or anything changes. This in situ may be the first and last you ever hear of melanoma – unfortunately for me, my first melanoma (in situ) was the first of three (the other two were stage 1). I probably had all three at the same time but one was removed first and the other two three months later – because I pushed for it. With melanoma, you are your own best advocate. So, though in situ melanoma is a scary diagnosis, it's actually a GREAT diagnosis in the melanoma world as it means you have pretty much 100% chance of survival. Enjoy life!
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- August 12, 2015 at 8:47 am
OK, first of all I have to date seen a GP (general practitioner), not a dermatologist. The first in situ melanoma was really classic stuff – a five year old could have picked it, in hindsight. The GP picked that. The second and third were far more sneaky – one was small and dark, the other very faint and spread out. Both were removed at my insistence and both proved melanoma. So I say get a good dr and follow your gut. Because these two were essentially missed by my current doctor, I have today seen a specialist dermatologist. He has biopsied two more – totally different moles than what the GP is watching. If he gets it right and these two are melanoma, I will change up to him. If he gets it wrong I'll stay with my GP but be very vigilant with my own skin checks, and perhaps photos like Janner always suggests.
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- August 12, 2015 at 8:47 am
OK, first of all I have to date seen a GP (general practitioner), not a dermatologist. The first in situ melanoma was really classic stuff – a five year old could have picked it, in hindsight. The GP picked that. The second and third were far more sneaky – one was small and dark, the other very faint and spread out. Both were removed at my insistence and both proved melanoma. So I say get a good dr and follow your gut. Because these two were essentially missed by my current doctor, I have today seen a specialist dermatologist. He has biopsied two more – totally different moles than what the GP is watching. If he gets it right and these two are melanoma, I will change up to him. If he gets it wrong I'll stay with my GP but be very vigilant with my own skin checks, and perhaps photos like Janner always suggests.
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- August 12, 2015 at 8:47 am
OK, first of all I have to date seen a GP (general practitioner), not a dermatologist. The first in situ melanoma was really classic stuff – a five year old could have picked it, in hindsight. The GP picked that. The second and third were far more sneaky – one was small and dark, the other very faint and spread out. Both were removed at my insistence and both proved melanoma. So I say get a good dr and follow your gut. Because these two were essentially missed by my current doctor, I have today seen a specialist dermatologist. He has biopsied two more – totally different moles than what the GP is watching. If he gets it right and these two are melanoma, I will change up to him. If he gets it wrong I'll stay with my GP but be very vigilant with my own skin checks, and perhaps photos like Janner always suggests.
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- August 11, 2015 at 7:22 pm
Thank you stars!! I've already had two other suspisous ones removed, and three month follow ups for two years. I'm gonna take photos too, I have a good amount of moles, not tons, but enough 🙂 I feel incredibly lucky.
I so appreciate this resource, I read a lot before posting and my thoughts are with everyone on this journey.
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- August 11, 2015 at 7:22 pm
Thank you stars!! I've already had two other suspisous ones removed, and three month follow ups for two years. I'm gonna take photos too, I have a good amount of moles, not tons, but enough 🙂 I feel incredibly lucky.
I so appreciate this resource, I read a lot before posting and my thoughts are with everyone on this journey.
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- August 11, 2015 at 7:22 pm
Thank you stars!! I've already had two other suspisous ones removed, and three month follow ups for two years. I'm gonna take photos too, I have a good amount of moles, not tons, but enough 🙂 I feel incredibly lucky.
I so appreciate this resource, I read a lot before posting and my thoughts are with everyone on this journey.
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- August 11, 2015 at 8:13 am
OK, Amy, the melanoma club is one that none of us want to be in, but if you must be here, then in situ is BY FAR the way to go. An in situ melanoma does not have the mechanism to spread/metastasise – once it's gone (as yours is), it's gone. Your job now is to focus on some kind of vigilance with skin checking that you can live with – I imagine for in situ that means 6 monthly derm checks – as well as keep an eye on your skin (say, with a good check once per month) and act immediately if anything new pops up or anything changes. This in situ may be the first and last you ever hear of melanoma – unfortunately for me, my first melanoma (in situ) was the first of three (the other two were stage 1). I probably had all three at the same time but one was removed first and the other two three months later – because I pushed for it. With melanoma, you are your own best advocate. So, though in situ melanoma is a scary diagnosis, it's actually a GREAT diagnosis in the melanoma world as it means you have pretty much 100% chance of survival. Enjoy life!
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- August 11, 2015 at 8:13 am
OK, Amy, the melanoma club is one that none of us want to be in, but if you must be here, then in situ is BY FAR the way to go. An in situ melanoma does not have the mechanism to spread/metastasise – once it's gone (as yours is), it's gone. Your job now is to focus on some kind of vigilance with skin checking that you can live with – I imagine for in situ that means 6 monthly derm checks – as well as keep an eye on your skin (say, with a good check once per month) and act immediately if anything new pops up or anything changes. This in situ may be the first and last you ever hear of melanoma – unfortunately for me, my first melanoma (in situ) was the first of three (the other two were stage 1). I probably had all three at the same time but one was removed first and the other two three months later – because I pushed for it. With melanoma, you are your own best advocate. So, though in situ melanoma is a scary diagnosis, it's actually a GREAT diagnosis in the melanoma world as it means you have pretty much 100% chance of survival. Enjoy life!
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Tagged: cutaneous melanoma
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