Doctor said likely to be melanoma
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Doctor said likely to be melanoma

› Forums › Cutaneous Melanoma Community › Doctor said likely to be melanoma

  • Post
    • October 27, 2018 at 3:50 pm
    Lovetofish
    Participant

      Hello all! I am new here and anxiously waiting confirmation of melanoma. I am only 28, and am a mother to have four children. 

      I have had several atypical moles all my life. Last checked when I was probably 20 or 21, all were fine. Within the last few years one particular mole on my back has changed. It would itch randomly. I always chalked it up to being right on my bra line and getting rubbed, so I ignored it. This last year, my husband started mentioning how weird it looked and i should get it checked out. Life happened, and I forgot about it. About 5-6 months ago, it bled for no reason. Once again, figured I must have caught it with a shirt or bra. But my husband made me promise to get it checked out. Again, I forgot. With my kids and running our businesses, it slipped my mind. For the last three months, I’ve now had one swollen lymph node along with night sweats. I chalked the night sweats up to having a baby 11 weeks ago and being pregnant. 

      I finally went in yesterday because I had some bumps on my arm. They were lipomas. While I was there I had him check the mole. He was very concerned and took it, along with a big chunk of skin, off with it. I then went to my primary to check my lymph nodes per his advice and how he does not deal with those. My mole got sent off for biopsy. I got a CBC done for lymph node. My doctor said if it comes back as cancer or gets bigger, or the CBC comes back abnormal, he will want to biopsy my lymph node as it’s been this way for months. 

       

      I an am posting because I’m wondering if anyone else had a similar a story and it was not melanoma. I have a gut feeling it is, as my family members have had it and this mole was very weird. Being on my back, I never saw it until yesterday. My next question, I know it moves fast. Could that lymph node in my neck be the place it went, or are there closer lymph nodes? I am trying to be proactive and getting everything checked out and prepared for if it comes back as melanoma like my doctor suspects. It hit all the ABCDE characteristics and bled/itched periodically. 

      What stage were you at when diagnosed? I am terrified for my children’s sake 

    Viewing 3 reply threads
    • Replies
        • October 27, 2018 at 7:40 pm
        MelanomaMike
        Participant
          Hello LoveToFish, you mean “Your Anxiously waiting for A Clean Bill Of Health!” Never hope or Count on Melanoma to show up on your Doorstep, its NOT a fun journey for some but, if you do get confirmation of its Demonic Possession, just know its NOT your Death Sentence..fingers crossed!
            • October 27, 2018 at 9:28 pm
            Lovetofish
            Participant

              Thank you! Yes I am hoping and praying for the best, but preparing for the worst. I am a planner, I have to know prior to something how it’s all going to work. So I am learning, just Incase the day comes where it turns out to be melanoma. I won’t be left standing there, wondering what do I do now?

            • October 27, 2018 at 7:42 pm
            Mark_DC
            Participant

              Dear lovetofish

              Am sorry you have to go through all this. I dont think I am the best person to respond (I worry easily too!), there are many other saner heads on this Board.

              All I would say is that I would not jump to conclusions. Great you had this checked out. I have a lipoma too which looks like cancer but is not. So its good this made you check. And its also "good" (though you may not feel this) that your dermatologist is concerned and wants to check it out.

              Likewise I would not jump to conclusions on what this means if it does come back as melanoma. And whether it really has spread to your lymph node or this is swollen for other reasons. If it does come back as melanoma, then there are procedures to follow, and it would be good to repost then to make sure you get the right advice. You would need to do other scans and an excision. But we are jumping far ahead of things. And then even if it is bad news, the reality of this bulletin board is that there are effective treatments out there. they dont always work for everyone, but then there are other treatments to try too – and something can work out. we have all been shocked here but over time we deal with it and maybe even come out stronger, i dont know, in some ways maybe.

              If it is melanoma aside from re-posting I think the best advice is to make sure to get a melanoma specialist. If you find one then they will take care of you with treatment options as good or better than those recommended here. My doctors kind of dont like my half knowledge of my disease, but i can use the info on this board to ask them questions and i can tell from the quality of their answers that they are on top of the issues. So do find a melanoma specialist. But you are not there yet, so please dont jump to the worst case (like i usually do!). Enjoy your life and your children, you will have a great time and life ahead.

              good luck Mark

                • October 27, 2018 at 9:30 pm
                Lovetofish
                Participant

                  Thank you mark. 

                  At this point, I am just trying to learn what I can so either way, I am prepared for whatever the outcome may be. While I know theres still a large chance that everything will be just fine. I am just trusting that god has a plan, and I’ll trust it. Whatever it may be. I do know that if it is melanoma as my doctor highly suspects, It will not win. I am way too stubborn of a person for that. 

                  • October 28, 2018 at 9:05 pm
                  casagrayson
                  Participant

                    Good for you!  I get the "planning" thing — I'm that way.  Here's what I think you should do.  Stay off the internet (except for this site) as most of the melanoma-related articles are waaaay out of date as far as treatments go.  Once you get your pathology report, post it here in its entirety.  You'll get some very good input from some very smart people.  If is IS melanoma, you will be scheduled for a wide local excision and maybe a sentinel node biopsy (depending on depth).  Up until that point, your dermatologist and/or plastic surgeon can handle everything.  If the node comes back as positive for melanoma, then you MUST find a melanoma specialist.  You want someone that deals with melanoma every single day — and that is all they deal with.  It makes all the difference in the world.  

                     

                    • October 29, 2018 at 2:14 am
                    Lovetofish
                    Participant

                      Thank you Susan! If it comes back, I will for sure find one. Crossing my fingers it doesn’t come to that. I don’t have insurance, due to the high cost, I couldn’t afford it and will not be able to. I do have other health insurance but does not cover this pre existing condition. I could only afford the short term health plans, and they are not required to meet the ACA guidelines of no pre existing conditions. So, if it is melanoma, I believe I will be trying a wholistic approach as that will be my only option. A visit alone where I live for a specialist is close to $500-$1000. 

                      • November 1, 2018 at 8:54 pm
                      casagrayson
                      Participant

                        I'm going to say something that I'm afraid you won't want to hear.  IF this lesion turns out to be melanoma, you cannot afford to NOT get health insurance.  It's open season right now, and you absolutely need to search for a policy that you can handle.  I'm not sure where you live, but many states took the expanded Medicaid, and that will provide you with subsidies that will make the insurance much less expensive.  A holistic approach to melanoma is simply not smart.  

                        So, get the report and find out what the next step is.  If the melanoma is small, all you will need is a wide local excision.  If it is a larger one, you will need that sentinel node biopsy as well.  Maybe you can afford both of those things out of pocket.  IF the node biopsy shows a spread, that puts you at Stage 3.  You will need access to immunotherapy, clinical trials, etc.  That's not something that is doable without insurance.  If it were me, I would do anything I needed to do before the end of the year to get good insurance — move to a state that has expanded Medicaid, change jobs to one that provides company insurance (Starbucks even provides group medical insurance to their part-time employees), move to a less expensive home/apt., etc.  If this is anything but a Stage 1 melanoma, you are in for a fight, and you need to have all medical options available to you.

                      • October 29, 2018 at 12:51 am
                      lkb
                      Participant

                        First, wishing you good test results. Second, echoing Susan on the importance of a melanoma specialist if it turns out, that's what you have. I went to a really good dermatologist who missed a melanoma on me during a skin check, so I'm sticking with the specialist going forward. I've been terrified too, but am learning to live life–as many of us do here–despite the beast.

                        Lisa

                          • October 29, 2018 at 2:18 am
                          Lovetofish
                          Participant

                            Thank you Lisa! I have been researching doctors in my area. Luckily, the doctor instantly saw my mole, and immediately said that he needs to remove this and send it for biopsy. He’s an older man, 70s I would say, and he expressed that even after having 74 removed off himself over his life, none were ever this bad. (He only told me this because I asked some questions, not to scare me. He was a very sweet man) I got back in a week to remove stitches and hopefully have results. I am also going to have him look over the rest of my skin at that time. 

                          • November 1, 2018 at 3:54 pm
                          MelanomaMike
                          Participant
                            Hi LoveToFish, any word yet on your test? Let us know!…
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