Hi,

What you have been told is a little conflicting. If no cancer was detected they wouldn't do a wide local excision (as your daughter describes) - unless the cells they removed couldn't definitely be said to be benign or cancer (this happens in a very small number of cases so, to be on the safe side, they remove more tissue). It may well be that this has happened, or your daughter hasn't completely understood the results or she is trying to soften the news by not telling you the full results so as not to upset you. 

If you can, perhaps sit down with her and ask her to go through it all again with you. Tell her you want to support her through this and that you can't do that if you don't understand the situation. If she has been given her histology report you could ask if she's happy to let you see it? Or you could suggest, if she's amenable, to go along with her to her next appointment (my hubby or mum used to come with me in the early days as it's hard to take in all the information given to you). 

I hope you manage to find out what's happening & that, should it be melanoma, that it's been caught early & the further surgery will be the only treatment she will need. Good luck and please let us know how you get on,

Angie (Stage 3 melanoma patient since 2009)