Hello Safc and thanks for posting, 

I am sorry to learn about your partner and can understand that waiting can be unsettling. 

In general most cancers usually grow slowly so short waits shouldn't have an impact on the success of  treatment. This is why cancer is mostly treated urgently in the NHS, but of course it feels like an emergency for anyone suspected of having it.  There are waiting times targets which you can read about on our website  - but unfortunately the pandemic has had an impact on these. I believe there may be some scope for a specialist to be able to prioritise some patients, but I don't know by how much or what sort of criteria they would apply. 

With melanoma the biopsy is usually an excisional biopsy to remove all of it. This is the first of a two step surgical process (both usually done under local anaesthetic), the second step is a wide local excision, You can read more about this on our website here - these may be all that is needed.  So I expect Tuesday would be classed as part of your partner's treatment as it is the first component.

I think dermatologists are good at predicating the stage of a melanoma but this is formally calculated in the laboratory after the melanoma has been removed when the thickness can be measured. So I'm afraid there will be more waiting until you know for sure. Do encourage your partner to ask some questions when she attends her appointment and to find out when the biopsy results will come back and how she will be told about them and any next step. 

I hope everything goes smoothly. If either of you want to talk anything over please give us a ring on Freephone 0808 800 4040, we are around from 9-5, weekdays. 

Wishing you the best,

Julia

Thankyou for the reply hopefully it's early and gets clear margins

I hope you've been able to get some dates for the biopsy. I was recently diagnosed with skin melanoma and the biopsy is the first most obvious way of checking for cancer.

I tend to agree if they thought it was bad I'm sure that even with the current pressures on the system it would be dealt with fast. If it turns out to be cancer then everything is done very quickly.

Good luck and please don't over think things too much at the moment :love:

That's great news.

I was diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma and am currently taking medication to treat any residual traces after having a positive sentinel node biopsy.

The wider margin cut is worthwhile, as you said it helps reduce the risk of anything spreading, and leaves a cool scar to show friends and family:laugh: