Hi all,

I wondered if anyone could offer advice? I was diagnosed with a type 1b melanoma on my cheek in mid-August. It had clear margins. When I saw the doctor, they told me that 'this isn't going to affect your life', which made me breathe a sigh of relief; I had wondered if the diagnosis was coming and had obviously hoped we had caught it early (I said to them something like 'so what you're saying is this really shouldn't be a problem?' and they confirmed). They obviously offered advice about what to do to protect myself, and are referring me on to another hospital for further treatment. As I understand it this will include a wide-local excision, but I'm told that the first appointment (next week) will just be a consultation. Is this normal? I'm slightly concerned that they will try and do the WLE that day; we are out of the country for almost three weeks after that. I wondered if anyone else had been through a similar situation. I feel simultaneously lucky and like I've been hit by a bus, and veer between worrying about further issues/not being all that worried. I have a very good therapist, but I'd appreciate hearing what other people have to say about this. I'm 39, and we have a three year old and another baby on the way, so it has been difficult to deal with on top of that.