Hi,

If it's melanoma you will need a further surgical excision to remove a wider margin of tissue. The excision you've just had is called a primary excision - a diagnosis of melanoma then leads to a wider local excision (WLE). If the melanoma is more than 1mm in depth the patient is also offered a Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy (SLNB) which is carried out at the same time as the WLE. Dye is injected into the location of the melanoma and tracked by ultrasound to the nearest (sentinel) lymph node - this is then removed to see if there is any trace of melanoma in the node.

Melanoma patients are followed up over a period of time - moles and nodal areas are always checked and the patient is shown how to check their lymph node areas. If, between appointments, a melanoma patient finds a new mole/lesion or lump you can contact the specialist nurse for an earlier appointment to get it checked out.

Good luck with your results and please let us know how you get on,

Angie (Stage 3 melanoma patient since 2009)

Thankyou so much for your reply! 
Ooh, I had thought I may have had a wide excision already due to the lesion being 1cm/0.5cm but my scar is about 5cm long and I had internal and external stitches. So is there potential that they may have to take more if depending on the results then? 
I’ve tried reading up but before your diagnosed it’s a bit of a minefield. 

HI Amy,

Yes, the initial excision is always larger than the lesion to ensure they get it all out. Once diagnosed as melanoma, a wider excision is always done to take a larger margin of tissue in case a stray cell has broken off into the surrounding tissue. The size of the wider excision is calculated by the depth of the melanoma & it's carried out as an elliptical excision so that it's easier to stitch the wound back together (rather than in a straight line. This link may help you dermnetnz.org/.../excision-of-skin-lesions