› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Southern California
- This topic has 24 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 10 years ago by
las630.
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- June 4, 2015 at 3:42 am
Good evening,
I am newly diagnosed with Malignant Melanoma. I had a mole removed last month and it came back Malignant Melanoma (Breslow 1.2 with ulceration and 2-3 mitoses per mm2). I met with a surgical oncologist 2 weeks ago, and I am scheduled for a WLE with SLN biopsy on June 19th.
I live in Fallbrook, CA and my dermatologist suggested I see the surgical oncologist at Loma Linda Medical Center in Loma Linda, CA (1 1/2 hours away). I am willing to drive any distance to get the best treatment.
Does anyone have any suggestions of great melanoma specialists in the southern California area or do you know if Loma Linda is highly recommended? Temecula/Fallbrook/Murrieta/Vista/Escondido/Oceanside/Poway/San Diego??
I am insanely nervous, and the more I research, the more nervous I become. I am a very upbeat and positive person and I am always super strong for other people, but deep down I am crazy worried and upset. I always feel like laughter is the best medicine, and I always joke about everything, but internally I am really scared and I find myself crying when I am by myself and not keeping busy. Does anyone else have the same feelings? How have you been able to talk about your feelings??
I don't know, I guess I'm just rambling. 🙂
thank you,
Lisa
- Replies
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- June 4, 2015 at 1:02 pm
Hi Lisa,
I live quite a bit north of you, near Seattle, so I can't help you with a recommendation for great melanoma specialists where you live. Hopefully your SNB will come back negative, and you will staged at one of the lower stages. Also, I am sure some other people will chime in with recommendations.
What I did want to warn you about is to try and stay away from the internet searching on melanoma. I know I did that when I was first diagnosed, and it was scary indeed. The thing is, given the new treatments that have only become available in the last few years, most of the statistics you see online are completely out of date. The odds are way better for us than they were just five years ago.
Feeling scared and crying are absolutely natural reactions to a melanoma diagnosis. Do you have one person close to you that you can talk about how you feel? Maybe a best friend? Just being able to vent your fear to another human being instead of trying to keep it bottled up is bound to offer some relief.
Hoping the best for you – Paul.
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- June 4, 2015 at 1:51 pm
Hi Paul,
Thank you very much for your words of encouragement and your recommendations. It really does help. I did actually talk to my sister this morning, and you are right… It definitely helped to cry out loud and talk to her about it. But then, I feel bad because I know she is worried and scared too, and I don't want to make it worse for her. It's a weird thing.
Anyways, thank you again for your help and God Bless
Lisa
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- June 4, 2015 at 1:51 pm
Hi Paul,
Thank you very much for your words of encouragement and your recommendations. It really does help. I did actually talk to my sister this morning, and you are right… It definitely helped to cry out loud and talk to her about it. But then, I feel bad because I know she is worried and scared too, and I don't want to make it worse for her. It's a weird thing.
Anyways, thank you again for your help and God Bless
Lisa
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- June 4, 2015 at 1:51 pm
Hi Paul,
Thank you very much for your words of encouragement and your recommendations. It really does help. I did actually talk to my sister this morning, and you are right… It definitely helped to cry out loud and talk to her about it. But then, I feel bad because I know she is worried and scared too, and I don't want to make it worse for her. It's a weird thing.
Anyways, thank you again for your help and God Bless
Lisa
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- June 4, 2015 at 1:02 pm
Hi Lisa,
I live quite a bit north of you, near Seattle, so I can't help you with a recommendation for great melanoma specialists where you live. Hopefully your SNB will come back negative, and you will staged at one of the lower stages. Also, I am sure some other people will chime in with recommendations.
What I did want to warn you about is to try and stay away from the internet searching on melanoma. I know I did that when I was first diagnosed, and it was scary indeed. The thing is, given the new treatments that have only become available in the last few years, most of the statistics you see online are completely out of date. The odds are way better for us than they were just five years ago.
Feeling scared and crying are absolutely natural reactions to a melanoma diagnosis. Do you have one person close to you that you can talk about how you feel? Maybe a best friend? Just being able to vent your fear to another human being instead of trying to keep it bottled up is bound to offer some relief.
Hoping the best for you – Paul.
-
- June 4, 2015 at 1:02 pm
Hi Lisa,
I live quite a bit north of you, near Seattle, so I can't help you with a recommendation for great melanoma specialists where you live. Hopefully your SNB will come back negative, and you will staged at one of the lower stages. Also, I am sure some other people will chime in with recommendations.
What I did want to warn you about is to try and stay away from the internet searching on melanoma. I know I did that when I was first diagnosed, and it was scary indeed. The thing is, given the new treatments that have only become available in the last few years, most of the statistics you see online are completely out of date. The odds are way better for us than they were just five years ago.
Feeling scared and crying are absolutely natural reactions to a melanoma diagnosis. Do you have one person close to you that you can talk about how you feel? Maybe a best friend? Just being able to vent your fear to another human being instead of trying to keep it bottled up is bound to offer some relief.
Hoping the best for you – Paul.
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- June 4, 2015 at 4:25 pm
Hi Lisa,
I know you must be scared. But you need to have faith that everything will be fine.
I highly recommend Dr. Daniels, a highly experienced melanoma doctor at UC san Diego. Also, USCD also has a top notch surgery team specializing in melanoma.
Here is Dr.Daniels contact information. He is very caring and a nice guy.
[email protected] daniels office 858-246-0580
Good Luck
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- June 4, 2015 at 4:25 pm
Hi Lisa,
I know you must be scared. But you need to have faith that everything will be fine.
I highly recommend Dr. Daniels, a highly experienced melanoma doctor at UC san Diego. Also, USCD also has a top notch surgery team specializing in melanoma.
Here is Dr.Daniels contact information. He is very caring and a nice guy.
[email protected] daniels office 858-246-0580
Good Luck
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- June 4, 2015 at 4:25 pm
Hi Lisa,
I know you must be scared. But you need to have faith that everything will be fine.
I highly recommend Dr. Daniels, a highly experienced melanoma doctor at UC san Diego. Also, USCD also has a top notch surgery team specializing in melanoma.
Here is Dr.Daniels contact information. He is very caring and a nice guy.
[email protected] daniels office 858-246-0580
Good Luck
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- June 5, 2015 at 1:45 am
I was treated at Loma Linda for my WLE and SLNB and Dr. Solomon did a great job. See my profile for treatment details. He isn't a Melanoma Specialist but all things considered he did save my foot when it didn't look like that would be an option at the time. Wait times in his office are long, typically over two hours or more after your scheduled appointment time.
A friend of mine (Chris Shepard, his story is in the Patient Stories tab) is seen by Dr. O'Day in Beverly Hills and cannot say enough good things about him and his staff.
Good luck and stay positive.
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- June 5, 2015 at 1:45 am
I was treated at Loma Linda for my WLE and SLNB and Dr. Solomon did a great job. See my profile for treatment details. He isn't a Melanoma Specialist but all things considered he did save my foot when it didn't look like that would be an option at the time. Wait times in his office are long, typically over two hours or more after your scheduled appointment time.
A friend of mine (Chris Shepard, his story is in the Patient Stories tab) is seen by Dr. O'Day in Beverly Hills and cannot say enough good things about him and his staff.
Good luck and stay positive.
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- June 5, 2015 at 1:45 am
I was treated at Loma Linda for my WLE and SLNB and Dr. Solomon did a great job. See my profile for treatment details. He isn't a Melanoma Specialist but all things considered he did save my foot when it didn't look like that would be an option at the time. Wait times in his office are long, typically over two hours or more after your scheduled appointment time.
A friend of mine (Chris Shepard, his story is in the Patient Stories tab) is seen by Dr. O'Day in Beverly Hills and cannot say enough good things about him and his staff.
Good luck and stay positive.
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- June 5, 2015 at 5:30 am
My Mom, who has stage IV, saw 4 melanoma specialists and I would only recommend 2 of them. Dr. Peter Bosaberg (Santa Monica ) is one of the top melanoma specialists in Southern California. He was the 3rd we saw and he found the brain mets the radiologist missed. (You want this kind or doctor.) – Neither of the 1st 2 melanoma specialists looked at the MRIs, just the reports. – The 4th melanoma specialist my Mom saw was Dr. Michael Wong at USC. He is her current oncologist and he and the entire team at USC just can't be beat in my humble opinion.
I would highly recommend that whatever you do that you find a team that communicates freely and easily on your treatment. When my Mom was treated with gamma knife radiation (brain mets) the 1st time the doctors at a location in Beverly Hills were not communicating between each other and when we found out that she had another tumor, but the doctor wanted to watch and not treat it, we got a 2nd opinion the next day at USC. In that meeting, we discovered that my Mom didn't have just 1 new tumor but at least 5 in the prefrontal lobe (all were large enough for treatment) and treatment should not have been delayed. The team at USC treated 17 brain mets 8 days after were were told to wait.
I've noticed that at every appointment she's had at USC, since we moved all of her treatment there, that the doctors communicate easily between departments and we never get the run around about anything. I've also noticed that at most of her appointments there are residents following the doctors around and having a extra pair of eyes (or 3 or 4) looking at all of her reports has likely lead to better care over all.
Whatever you do, ask questions, get at least one other opinion and find out how extensive the doctors look at your records and what the communication is like between anyone who is treating you. This can go a long way in making sure you get the best treatment.
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- June 5, 2015 at 5:30 am
My Mom, who has stage IV, saw 4 melanoma specialists and I would only recommend 2 of them. Dr. Peter Bosaberg (Santa Monica ) is one of the top melanoma specialists in Southern California. He was the 3rd we saw and he found the brain mets the radiologist missed. (You want this kind or doctor.) – Neither of the 1st 2 melanoma specialists looked at the MRIs, just the reports. – The 4th melanoma specialist my Mom saw was Dr. Michael Wong at USC. He is her current oncologist and he and the entire team at USC just can't be beat in my humble opinion.
I would highly recommend that whatever you do that you find a team that communicates freely and easily on your treatment. When my Mom was treated with gamma knife radiation (brain mets) the 1st time the doctors at a location in Beverly Hills were not communicating between each other and when we found out that she had another tumor, but the doctor wanted to watch and not treat it, we got a 2nd opinion the next day at USC. In that meeting, we discovered that my Mom didn't have just 1 new tumor but at least 5 in the prefrontal lobe (all were large enough for treatment) and treatment should not have been delayed. The team at USC treated 17 brain mets 8 days after were were told to wait.
I've noticed that at every appointment she's had at USC, since we moved all of her treatment there, that the doctors communicate easily between departments and we never get the run around about anything. I've also noticed that at most of her appointments there are residents following the doctors around and having a extra pair of eyes (or 3 or 4) looking at all of her reports has likely lead to better care over all.
Whatever you do, ask questions, get at least one other opinion and find out how extensive the doctors look at your records and what the communication is like between anyone who is treating you. This can go a long way in making sure you get the best treatment.
-
- June 5, 2015 at 5:30 am
My Mom, who has stage IV, saw 4 melanoma specialists and I would only recommend 2 of them. Dr. Peter Bosaberg (Santa Monica ) is one of the top melanoma specialists in Southern California. He was the 3rd we saw and he found the brain mets the radiologist missed. (You want this kind or doctor.) – Neither of the 1st 2 melanoma specialists looked at the MRIs, just the reports. – The 4th melanoma specialist my Mom saw was Dr. Michael Wong at USC. He is her current oncologist and he and the entire team at USC just can't be beat in my humble opinion.
I would highly recommend that whatever you do that you find a team that communicates freely and easily on your treatment. When my Mom was treated with gamma knife radiation (brain mets) the 1st time the doctors at a location in Beverly Hills were not communicating between each other and when we found out that she had another tumor, but the doctor wanted to watch and not treat it, we got a 2nd opinion the next day at USC. In that meeting, we discovered that my Mom didn't have just 1 new tumor but at least 5 in the prefrontal lobe (all were large enough for treatment) and treatment should not have been delayed. The team at USC treated 17 brain mets 8 days after were were told to wait.
I've noticed that at every appointment she's had at USC, since we moved all of her treatment there, that the doctors communicate easily between departments and we never get the run around about anything. I've also noticed that at most of her appointments there are residents following the doctors around and having a extra pair of eyes (or 3 or 4) looking at all of her reports has likely lead to better care over all.
Whatever you do, ask questions, get at least one other opinion and find out how extensive the doctors look at your records and what the communication is like between anyone who is treating you. This can go a long way in making sure you get the best treatment.
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Tagged: cutaneous melanoma
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