New to melanoma

My history with skin cancer began in 2012 when I had a basal cell carcinoma removed from my forehead.  Since then I’ve had a few suspicious looking spots frozen but nothing to cause any real concern…until… In, I would guess early 2017, I noticed for the first time that a place on the top/back of my left ear had peeled for no apparent reason.  To see this place I had to literally fold my ear over.  I didn’t really have a baseline to go by with respect to changes as I have never consciously examined this part of my body before and thus didn’t know what it looked like before.  I dismissed the first couple of peeling cycles and went merrily on my way.  However, as the months went by it continued going through peeling cycles and I knew this couldn’t be right.  So in May 2017 the spot was biopsied and diagnosed superficial spreading melanoma at stage 1b with 0.78 mm thickness, ulceration (probably all the damn peeling right!), and 2 mitoses per square mm.  There was no evidence of invasion into lymphatic/nervous/circulatory systems.  The strangest (and scariest thing, I think) was that there was no associated hyperpigmented area.  Other than the incessant peeling, the area visually looked fairly normal. Nevertheless, it was melanoma, so let’s get it out!  I had a 1.8 X 1.4 X 0.9 cm wedge removed and the pathology report returned stating the tumor was excised, but the nearest margin was 5 mm – too close.  As of this writing, I have completed the second surgery to obtain wider margins and the pathology report has returned all clear.  My dermatologist, oncologist, and plastic surgeon all are on the fence about whether a lymph node biopsy is merited.  Since my diagnosis I have learned that a lymph node biopsy is best done before excision anyway so I don’t know what to do at this point other than I have arranged for Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL to take over my case going forward. I am incredibly gratefully for the doctors who have worked with me thus far but feel like it’s wise to align with a melanoma specialist for the future.  My first appointment is in mid-July.  I know this is a journey, and I'll be sporting an ear that’s about 2/3 its former size as a reminder of the saga.  But I'm optimistic and hoping for the best.  I know many of you here have much greater challenges than I, but I wanted to give a big thank you to all the forum users.  I have found the stories and information here to be enormously helpful.  I wish you all the best and let’s keep each other strong!