Hi Suz26,

I'm not a nurse but I've been a melanoma patient for many years.

I'm afraid current waiting times for a WLE & SLNB are taking quite a while. This is due to a radiographer needing to be present for the SLNB & it's causing delays. Every hospital is different at the moment so it could be anything from 2 weeks to 10 weeks. 

I don't know how long you've already been waiting but I suggest you contact your hospital and ask for a possible timeline. If it's going to be very long you have two choices - you can either see if another hospital has a shorter wait for the procedures or you can decide to only have the WLE which will be done much quicker. I know a couple of patients who didn't want to wait months so had the WLE within a few weeks. If a patient decides against a SLNB they can ask the hospital if regular ultrasounds of the nodal area would be offered instead. 

The thing to remember is that a SLNB is not a treatment but is used as a Staging tool. If melanoma is found in the sentinel node it means the Staging changes & this then affects the treatment path. If your surgeon was concerned & mentioned possible immunotherapy, that can only be accessed by having a positive SLNB. So you need to weigh up having to wait longer to have a more definitive diagnosis against cutting short the wait & having a WLE which doesn't change your staging & doesn't make you eligible for immunotherapy. Perhaps try & contact the cancer nurse (you should have been given their contact details) to discuss it so you can make a considered opinion.

Good luck & please let us know how you get on,

Angie (Stage 3 melanoma patient since 2009)

Hi Suz26,

I'm not a nurse but I've been a melanoma patient for many years.

I'm afraid current waiting times for a WLE & SLNB are taking quite a while. This is due to a radiographer needing to be present for the SLNB & it's causing delays. Every hospital is different at the moment so it could be anything from 2 weeks to 10 weeks. 

I don't know how long you've already been waiting but I suggest you contact your hospital and ask for a possible timeline. If it's going to be very long you have two choices - you can either see if another hospital has a shorter wait for the procedures or you can decide to only have the WLE which will be done much quicker. I know a couple of patients who didn't want to wait months so had the WLE within a few weeks. If a patient decides against a SLNB they can ask the hospital if regular ultrasounds of the nodal area would be offered instead. 

The thing to remember is that a SLNB is not a treatment but is used as a Staging tool. If melanoma is found in the sentinel node it means the Staging changes & this then affects the treatment path. If your surgeon was concerned & mentioned possible immunotherapy, that can only be accessed by having a positive SLNB. So you need to weigh up having to wait longer to have a more definitive diagnosis against cutting short the wait & having a WLE which doesn't change your staging & doesn't make you eligible for immunotherapy. Perhaps try & contact the cancer nurse (you should have been given their contact details) to discuss it so you can make a considered opinion.

Good luck & please let us know how you get on,

Angie (Stage 3 melanoma patient since 2009)