Going out of my mind...

Hello Wendy,

         I'm sorry to hear that you have to go through this. Melanoma can be very upsetting to say the least. Your experience sounds similiar to what I had almost 4 years ago.

         After going through Base of Tongue Cancer the year before, I didn't need to hear that I now had Melanoma on my left check. My wife noticed that a large freckle had now changed color and shape. I went to the Dermatologist as you did. He then did the shave biopsy and a week later I got the news.

         I ended up back with the Surgeon that did my Base of Tongue Surgery as he dealt with Melanoma as well and is also a Plastic Surgeon. What he did do was have me do a Sentinel Node test, which involved a shot of a special solution to see where the nearest lymphnode was in relationship to the melanoma spot. That was done in the morning of the Surgery of the Melanoma.

         During the surgery of the Melanoma, the Sentinel Node was removed to see if any cancer cells had traveled out of the Melanoma area. The Sentinal Node was clear in my case. After looking at your photo, not to out do you, but my spot looked about twice the size of yours if that is any comfort to you. I believed it was a birthmark all these years that I forgot about. I am fine, as I mentioned, it was roughly 3 1/2 years ago.

         I did stay over night at the Hospital as I did go home with a drain tube due to the Sentinal Node removal and the Surgeon did reconstruction on my left cheek. He wanted to make sure he got all the margin areas and alittle extra as he had taken care of my other cancer the year before.

       My Best to You and Everyone Here

I'm scared to death, too.  I don't know how I can take it.  Also, my Cancer Clinic, it seems the people there are so used to seeing cancer victims that they just don't care, at all.  Everything is done mechanically without compassion.  Except for one doctor, God bless him.  Without him, I couldn't keep going on.  I wish I had been hit by a bus instead of this.  Or a quick and clean heart attack.

Go for a second opinion to the M.D. Anderson Center in Houston, one of the tops in the country for treating melanoma.  You can get on their website and request an appointment yourself, or you can go through own doctor but that may take longer to coordinate.

 

They are on top of all melanoma treatments and have several successful new treatments and drug trials.  They also have some advanced testing processes and their pathology is tops in finding out exactly what the tissue consists of and what treatments would be most appropriate for it.

 

Don't waste time!  They have just completed a very successful drug trial of a new drug for melanoma.  It's a real breakthrough.  Search this site for "Melanoma Drug Trial BRAF Gene" for further info.