I was just diagnosed with a spitzoid melanoma on my left cheek under my eye. I am 29, turn 30 next month. The leison was on a birth mark I'd had on my face since around the age of 3 or 4 (doctors called it a hemangeoma). At the time, doctors did not want to touch it because of its proiximity to my eye (early 1990s). I went to a dermatologist about a seperate issue in Jan 2018, while there he noticed a "freckle" inside the birthmark leison on my face. He did a punch hole biopsy that was sent to a lab here in the Sacramento area. The local lab was uncertain so they then sent the slides to UCSF (sounds like I'm lucky to be close to a facility with spitzoid experience). They concluded that it was worriesome but still unclear. A Mohs surgeon exercised an elipse shaped biopsy that then came back as atypical melanocytic proliferation, consistent with melanoma 1.2mm in thickness (from UCSF again). I saw an ENT doctor who wanted to remove an additional 8mm margin to get a gross 1 cm margin and didnt' really recommend a sentinal node biopsy since data shows it really doesn't affect outcome. I saw a dermatologist for a second opinion today who reffered me to Dr. Kashani-Sabet at the Center for Melanoma Research and Treatment in San Francisco. I'm waiting to hear back from Dr. Kashani-Sabet's office now. If you have any updates on your treatment please reply. I'm quite upset. The dermatologist today talked about the complexity of my melanoma. I have a perinerural invasion present meaning not only could more surgery cause permanent nerve damage, but the melanoma could also spread using my nerves if it has metastasized.
Sorry for the long post, thank you for your time 🙂
Emmy
