Hello I have just been diagnosed with melanoma 2.2mm so awaiting WLE and SLB - would be interested to hear from others with experience of these procedures and if everyone offered SLB has had it?
I had WLE and SLNB 3 weeks ago yesterday. Mine is my left leg. My melanoma was 1.5mm and quick growing. Thankfully all was negative. My WLE is about 3inches above my knee. I had to wait 6 months for it to be done due to backlogs.
I had to travel from Cardiff to Swansea for plastic surgery sept who were amazing! I wasn't sure previous if I wanted the SLNB. I was really unsure. But I'm glad I did now.
I had the nuclear scan the day before: that was nowhere near as bad as I thought. Two small injections each side of my original scar no worse than a blood test. Scan them for 20 mins. (Rudely interrupted by a fire alarm where we all had to get out. There's me in a hospital gown thankfully I had a coat!). Back waiting in the car for an hour and a half and another 20 min scan. X marked on my leg for lymph node position.
Return next morning first in the queue which was great. I opted for spinal anaesthetic as I was scared of general. It was fine didn't feel a thing and they were all fabulous. They removed just the one lymph node and did the WLE. Had to wait 4 hours after till I could go home and get the feeling back in legs. Groin sore leg not too bad. Paracetamol did the trick. Very slow walking. Steri strips and plastic sticky bandages.
it's been ok much better than I anticipated. I'm off work not rushing back as I have a very physical job. Removed sticky plastic after 10 days. Left strips on till sort of fell off and helped peel the others. My scar is quite long and slightly zig zag across my thigh. No stitches to remove. SLNB about an inch and a half. Out of the two the node one has been more niggly. But not needed many painkillers. My whole groin and half my thigh is purple. But I bruise easily. Going slowly. Had a little lumpy swelling by groin if I did too much that first 10 days. Leg up for a few hours and it went down.
my results came back within 2 weeks all negative yayyyyy!!
im still very slow walking. Not through pain but stiffness to the knee area. Between my scar and knee is very numb.?the sort of feeling you get at the dentist. I think it's where they cut the nerves. But if that's all I've got then hey ho. And I'm back in my skinny jeans (not bad for a 60 year old bird ha ha). There is a big dent in my leg but again hey ho. I'm going to tell people a shark bit me!
hope this helps and wishing you all the luck in the world
Thanks for your response so glad yours went ok - and it's very helpful to have an honest real view of things - I imagine the 6 month wait was not so fun - but glad it came back negative and you are recovering well.
