› Forums › General Melanoma Community › New diagnosed with melanoma while pregnant
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- January 2, 2016 at 6:46 am
Hi my name is cinthia
I got diagnosed with melanoma 3 weeks
Ago am 7 months pregnant, even tho the doctor said it was caugth on time im so scared that it has spread i dont want to leave my daugthers alone. The doctor told me i have to do check ups every 3 months for 2 years
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- January 2, 2016 at 9:06 am
Oh you poor thing, being diagnosed while pregnant. Have you had the wide level excision done, or just the original biopsy? If it's early stage like your doctor says, all you need to do is be vigilant with your own monthly check ups and keep going to those three monthly check ups. It's a bit of a different time frame to Australia – here the standard check-up interval is four to six months (mostly six months, four if it's some kind of high-risk lesion). The good thing is that it's found, diagnosed, gone and you can go on with your pregnancy. I have a working theory that my melanomas all developed in pregnancy – at least, that's when I started to notice small changes like darkening. I don't know if it's ever been proven, but I think pregnancy can cause or speed up changes to moles.
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- January 2, 2016 at 9:06 am
Oh you poor thing, being diagnosed while pregnant. Have you had the wide level excision done, or just the original biopsy? If it's early stage like your doctor says, all you need to do is be vigilant with your own monthly check ups and keep going to those three monthly check ups. It's a bit of a different time frame to Australia – here the standard check-up interval is four to six months (mostly six months, four if it's some kind of high-risk lesion). The good thing is that it's found, diagnosed, gone and you can go on with your pregnancy. I have a working theory that my melanomas all developed in pregnancy – at least, that's when I started to notice small changes like darkening. I don't know if it's ever been proven, but I think pregnancy can cause or speed up changes to moles.
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- January 2, 2016 at 9:06 am
Oh you poor thing, being diagnosed while pregnant. Have you had the wide level excision done, or just the original biopsy? If it's early stage like your doctor says, all you need to do is be vigilant with your own monthly check ups and keep going to those three monthly check ups. It's a bit of a different time frame to Australia – here the standard check-up interval is four to six months (mostly six months, four if it's some kind of high-risk lesion). The good thing is that it's found, diagnosed, gone and you can go on with your pregnancy. I have a working theory that my melanomas all developed in pregnancy – at least, that's when I started to notice small changes like darkening. I don't know if it's ever been proven, but I think pregnancy can cause or speed up changes to moles.
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- January 2, 2016 at 5:11 pm
That is scary. I, too, am pregnant and have wondered the exact same thing. Although I have not had a melanoma…I've been check for years with nothing atypical and all of a sudden, during this pregnancy…I've had 4 come back atypical…one bad enough to need a full excision.
my Derm says there is conflicting opinions on if pregnancy hormones actually speed up or trigger melanoma or change in moles. He did say after seeing what has happened to me he tends to lean more that perhaps the hormones to trigger something.
What stage are you? I'm so sorry. The great news is that although…yes, it's scary…melanoma is treatable and even curable if you stay on it and catch it early. That's what I'm doing. Every 3 months.
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- January 2, 2016 at 5:11 pm
That is scary. I, too, am pregnant and have wondered the exact same thing. Although I have not had a melanoma…I've been check for years with nothing atypical and all of a sudden, during this pregnancy…I've had 4 come back atypical…one bad enough to need a full excision.
my Derm says there is conflicting opinions on if pregnancy hormones actually speed up or trigger melanoma or change in moles. He did say after seeing what has happened to me he tends to lean more that perhaps the hormones to trigger something.
What stage are you? I'm so sorry. The great news is that although…yes, it's scary…melanoma is treatable and even curable if you stay on it and catch it early. That's what I'm doing. Every 3 months.
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- January 2, 2016 at 5:11 pm
That is scary. I, too, am pregnant and have wondered the exact same thing. Although I have not had a melanoma…I've been check for years with nothing atypical and all of a sudden, during this pregnancy…I've had 4 come back atypical…one bad enough to need a full excision.
my Derm says there is conflicting opinions on if pregnancy hormones actually speed up or trigger melanoma or change in moles. He did say after seeing what has happened to me he tends to lean more that perhaps the hormones to trigger something.
What stage are you? I'm so sorry. The great news is that although…yes, it's scary…melanoma is treatable and even curable if you stay on it and catch it early. That's what I'm doing. Every 3 months.
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- January 2, 2016 at 10:28 pm
Hi Cinthia,
I was diagnosed with stage 1 melanoma in 2013. I had a nine-month-old at the time. After a clear SLNB and PET scan, I asked each and every doctor if I was safe to get pregnant again. When I was 20 weeks pregnant I found an enlarged node in my groin. After biopsy confirmed my melanoma spread, I had a complete lymph node dissection at 23 weeks pregnant. From there I chose to wait. We had ultrasounds every-other week because melanoma is one of three types of cancer that can spread to the placenta and onto the baby. I was induced at 37 weeks. A week later I found out my cancer spread to my liver and various other spots on my body. (I'll spare you my treatment journey, but after finding a great medical team, I'm now cancer free.) My son is healthy and turned one at the beginning of December.
Please feel free to contact me anytime! It's scary and lonely to receive this diagnosis, especially during pregnancy.
701-721-6177
Ashley
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- January 2, 2016 at 10:28 pm
Hi Cinthia,
I was diagnosed with stage 1 melanoma in 2013. I had a nine-month-old at the time. After a clear SLNB and PET scan, I asked each and every doctor if I was safe to get pregnant again. When I was 20 weeks pregnant I found an enlarged node in my groin. After biopsy confirmed my melanoma spread, I had a complete lymph node dissection at 23 weeks pregnant. From there I chose to wait. We had ultrasounds every-other week because melanoma is one of three types of cancer that can spread to the placenta and onto the baby. I was induced at 37 weeks. A week later I found out my cancer spread to my liver and various other spots on my body. (I'll spare you my treatment journey, but after finding a great medical team, I'm now cancer free.) My son is healthy and turned one at the beginning of December.
Please feel free to contact me anytime! It's scary and lonely to receive this diagnosis, especially during pregnancy.
701-721-6177
Ashley
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- January 2, 2016 at 10:28 pm
Hi Cinthia,
I was diagnosed with stage 1 melanoma in 2013. I had a nine-month-old at the time. After a clear SLNB and PET scan, I asked each and every doctor if I was safe to get pregnant again. When I was 20 weeks pregnant I found an enlarged node in my groin. After biopsy confirmed my melanoma spread, I had a complete lymph node dissection at 23 weeks pregnant. From there I chose to wait. We had ultrasounds every-other week because melanoma is one of three types of cancer that can spread to the placenta and onto the baby. I was induced at 37 weeks. A week later I found out my cancer spread to my liver and various other spots on my body. (I'll spare you my treatment journey, but after finding a great medical team, I'm now cancer free.) My son is healthy and turned one at the beginning of December.
Please feel free to contact me anytime! It's scary and lonely to receive this diagnosis, especially during pregnancy.
701-721-6177
Ashley
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