Thank you Jenn for your mention.

Hi 147,

It's a huge shock when you are diagnosed with cancer & it takes a while for the diagnosis to sink in. The treatment you receive will depend on the Stage you are diagnosed & the result of your MRI. Have you yet had a Wide Local Excision and a Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy (if applicable - offered to those whose melanoma was 1mm or more in depth)? The results of all these procedures will go towards deciding on your treatment plan so you won't yet know what is in store in the immediate future. It's a difficult time at the moment as you feel 'in limbo' but once you know what treatment is planned you will feel more in control.

Of course, only you know if now is the right time to tell your adult children. Some patients prefer to wait until they have all the results & know what treatment plan has been decided on whilst others like to tell their family from the start so that they have the family support they feel they may need. Personally, I told my close family as soon as I was diagnosed Stage 1b at age 39. This turned out to the right thing to do because it spurred on my brother and his children to see my dermatologist for suspicious moles & our dermatologist then included us all in her research for familial melanoma. When I was diagnosed Stage 3 13 years later, it helped knowing that all my family understood melanoma by then & were a great support to me. As 20% of melanoma cases are caused by genetics and 80% by UV damage, it's always helpful for a patient's family to be informed and kept up to date because they will then know to keep an eye on their own skin & be more careful with sun protection. All my extended family now take care in the sun & know what to look out for on their skin.

I've sent you a friend request - if you accept it you can contact me by private message at any time. Meanwhile, good luck & I hope all goes well with your treatment,

Angie (Stage 3 melanoma patient since 2009)