jloz

This past summer I had a WLE and SLNB (which came back negative) on a 1.2mm deep melanoma on my back with no ulceration, 0 mitosis, mild lymphocytes present, and no regression.  Before the procedure, I was told that there was a ~12% chance that the mel had spread and was advised to get the SLNB done by my derm and my oncologist (my derm could have actually just done the WLE in his office if I didn't want the SLNB).

Looking back, I'm glad that I went through it for two reasons:

1) To get a more precise diagnosis and receive the most logical form of care moving forwards AND

2) To help curb my anxiety surrounding a possible recurrence now.  I didn't realize it then but its taken a while for my anxiety levels to gradually go down and having a negative SLNB has certainly helped me vs not knowing.  As others have stated, the negative SLNB doesn't definitively prove that it won't ever recur but if I hadn't had the SLNB done I'd be dealing with more "what ifs" in my mind right now.

For me, it was an outpatient procedure though it took me a week to get back to 85% (the SLNs were found under my arm, the mel was on my lower back, and I also had a WLE done on a severely atypical mole on my stomach at the same time so I was recovering from incisions on three sides of my body).  My WLE scars are still a little sore and itchy though my SLNB scar and site healed much faster.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

This past summer I had a WLE and SLNB (which came back negative) on a 1.2mm deep melanoma on my back with no ulceration, 0 mitosis, mild lymphocytes present, and no regression.  Before the procedure, I was told that there was a ~12% chance that the mel had spread and was advised to get the SLNB done by my derm and my oncologist (my derm could have actually just done the WLE in his office if I didn't want the SLNB).

Looking back, I'm glad that I went through it for two reasons:

1) To get a more precise diagnosis and receive the most logical form of care moving forwards AND

2) To help curb my anxiety surrounding a possible recurrence now.  I didn't realize it then but its taken a while for my anxiety levels to gradually go down and having a negative SLNB has certainly helped me vs not knowing.  As others have stated, the negative SLNB doesn't definitively prove that it won't ever recur but if I hadn't had the SLNB done I'd be dealing with more "what ifs" in my mind right now.

For me, it was an outpatient procedure though it took me a week to get back to 85% (the SLNs were found under my arm, the mel was on my lower back, and I also had a WLE done on a severely atypical mole on my stomach at the same time so I was recovering from incisions on three sides of my body).  My WLE scars are still a little sore and itchy though my SLNB scar and site healed much faster.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

This past summer I had a WLE and SLNB (which came back negative) on a 1.2mm deep melanoma on my back with no ulceration, 0 mitosis, mild lymphocytes present, and no regression.  Before the procedure, I was told that there was a ~12% chance that the mel had spread and was advised to get the SLNB done by my derm and my oncologist (my derm could have actually just done the WLE in his office if I didn't want the SLNB).

Looking back, I'm glad that I went through it for two reasons:

1) To get a more precise diagnosis and receive the most logical form of care moving forwards AND

2) To help curb my anxiety surrounding a possible recurrence now.  I didn't realize it then but its taken a while for my anxiety levels to gradually go down and having a negative SLNB has certainly helped me vs not knowing.  As others have stated, the negative SLNB doesn't definitively prove that it won't ever recur but if I hadn't had the SLNB done I'd be dealing with more "what ifs" in my mind right now.

For me, it was an outpatient procedure though it took me a week to get back to 85% (the SLNs were found under my arm, the mel was on my lower back, and I also had a WLE done on a severely atypical mole on my stomach at the same time so I was recovering from incisions on three sides of my body).  My WLE scars are still a little sore and itchy though my SLNB scar and site healed much faster.

Please let me know if you have any questions.