Terry Palardy

Today I left the house agaih at 5:15 am for my 7:30 am sutures.  Yesterday I went in for a noon time dressing change … the drive only takes an hour when commuter traffic isn't involved. I picked up a copy of the recent post-surgery biopsy … Janner, you are correct – it is lentiginous … two separate melanoma sites side by side, two separate cafe au lait stains, same as six years ago in 2012. Surgeon advises that if ANY staining reappears, get it biopsied immediately (I reminded him that I did have a biopsy a year ago that was returned negative despite the reappearance of the stains … repeat biopsy this year and it came back positive for melanoma. He said 'it is unusual for that to happen."   Next week, I'll have a squamous site surgically removed … I'm guess Mohs but could be wide excision … I forgot to ask which he'll do. 

So very tired of all of these surgeries, and dismayed to hear that it could continue to return to old sites in addition to continuing to appear in new sites. 

Mike, I appreciate your alliance.  People tell me I am strong.  Not feeling so strong right now. I'll be going to sleep early tonight.

Be well, all. I'm sure I'll be back.

Yes, he called it slow Mohs … originallly it took place over five days (cut, wait for path, cut again, wait for path, suture.) This time he decided to repeat slow Mohs but divided the site into two separate sites (there are two separate 'stains' of melanoma) and took a third sample outside the borders of the stains, and said he will call the pathologist at the lab to discuss the results, of both the original biopsies and this current set, so I'm confident in his skill … I reminded him that, before any of these skin cancers 'bloomed,' I had complied with four years of nightly self injections of a DMD (disease modifying drug) (chemo) for multiple sclerosis, which I believe decimated my immune system … he did say a weakened immune system would affect recurrence rates.  A multiple sclerosis blog friend has suggested I ask about LDN (low dose naltrexone) which some MS patients take to rebuild their immune systems; she said that LDN also reduces tumor size … I'm not sure what type of tumor she was referring to.

I so appreciate your answering, Jenner, and will let you know next week what Monday's visit yields…

HI Janner,

It's September now, and my three month checkup shows another two sites requiring surgery; the original melanoma site on my forearm (removed with three days of MOHS surgery five years ago) is again showing positive results for melahoma, superficial. And a new squamous site on my leg, just beside an original squamous treated five years ago with Mohs and jsut above the recent melanoma site treated two months ago with wide excision ,.. these surgeries will be my eleventh and twelvth sites … I don't know if Mohs or wide excision is planned … will know Friday when I go in. Is it unusual to have sites 'bloom' again?

Thanks – I will see him again in two days, for the second wide excision (fourth melanoma site) and will ask again about a visiting nurse. Two friends helped me out this week, one a retired LPN and one a friend who has had her own surgical procedures and was here for the mental support. I appreciated both.

ouch … I can only guess that I am being a wimp, grieving the loss of  my husband compounded by the return of the melanoma and the change in surgical strategy … and that you are in a different place in your life, full of confidence and determination. i am not. I am just at a point of wanting to be done with all of this. This is, for me, one more thing to have to do, on top of having multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, scoliosis and clinical depression, having lost my career and now my husband. But thanks for trying to encourage me.

Thank you for your response. I haven't seen the biopsy reports yet, so don't know the depths. I will see them tomorrow.

I've wondered why multiple sites aren't treated with surgery all at once, inpatient, with medical rather than self-care followup … I have had Mohs before, some with two or three cuts separated in time by days, and my late husband did all the follow up care. I lost him eighteen months ago to a sudden heart attack, and am on my own, in my late sixties … wishing this could all be taken care of inpatient… is that ever done?