Can I live through my anxiety

Suzana;
Deep breath! Sorry you are here but it is a good place for us melanoma peeps. A lot of caring and knowledgeable. Hopefully some more knowledgeable people may chime in but here goes my two cents. The way I have been told….a PET scan doesnt’ pick up tumors that are really small. That little sucker may have been there when your earlier scan was taken, it just didn’t show up. That being said, having another lymph node right next to the one you had before is not a huge change in your tumor burden, so you are still in a territory where people respond really well to treatment. I think the next step is to follow up with your onco people (hopefully a specialist) and see if further testing on that lymph area is indicated and following that a possible treatment plan. I am sure others who are more knowledgeable than me will chime in. God bless and good luck and remember to breath!
Ted

I had 14 lymph nodes removed from my neck Oct 2018. Two were melanoma. About 5 weeks ago, several small lumps appeared around the scar. I got cat scan 3 weeks ago. Results of that indicated probable metastasis of melanoma. Got needle biopsy of 2 largest ones this week. My appointment to get results is next week but I could not stand the anxiety so I called the phone nurse and asked to be called as soon as they got the results. She called later and said the biopsy was negative for melanoma. Yay! So it has been my experience that when you have a suspicious node , you will first get a cat scan or an ultrasound like you did then if it indicates probable melanoma, you will get an ultrasound guided fine needle biopsy of the node. I got results of that in 2 days. Hope this helps.

I had 14 lymph nodes removed from my neck Oct 2018. Two were melanoma. About 5 weeks ago, several small lumps appeared around the scar. I got cat scan 3 weeks ago. Results of that indicated probable metastasis of melanoma. Got needle biopsy of 2 largest ones this week. My appointment to get results is next week but I could not stand the anxiety so I called the phone nurse and asked to be called as soon as they got the results. She called later and said the biopsy was negative for melanoma. Yay! So it has been my experience that when you have a suspicious node , you will first get a cat scan or an ultrasound like you did then if it indicates probable melanoma, you will get an ultrasound guided fine needle biopsy of the node. I got results of that in 2 days. Hope this helps.

My anxiety would be through the roof, as well. Though PET scans are good, they can miss things on rare occasions, especially if they’re small. Some doctors will even use a PET/CT combo. It sounds like your doctor was also monitoring you via ultrasound.

The highest odds of having a recurrence are within the first two years of your initial diagnosis, which is why your oncologist is watching you like a hawk. While hearing you have one suspicious lymph node is scary and totally sucks, there is a bright side, believe it or not: the darn thing was spotted early and there’s only one. The next step will probably be a needle biopsy to see if any melanoma cells are present.

The unfortunate part is that there will be more waiting for test results involved. I didn’t deal well with the waiting part myself, early in my diagnosis, so I feel your pain. The best piece of advice I can offer is don’t be embarrassed or afraid to talk to your primary care doc about prescribing you something to help you with the anxiety.