Hi Ade, I have just Been diagnosed melanoma stage 2b.

So going Monday to discuss have wider excision and lymph nodes checked.

Scary stuff.

I'm 55 and work in nhs as mental health nurse I'm very scared although putting a brave face for hubby and adult daughters.

Please talk to others best thing or a friend you can trust.

Do you know if its general or local operation for wider and SNB test please.

Wishing you all the best for tomorrow x

Ps.

I have fibromyalgia so all the pain I feel I am now thinking *** is it fibromyalgia or cancer you are not alone in thinking like this.x

Thanks.... .

If it's just the wider excision, it's local; if it's wider excision AND SLNB, it's general. I'm told I'll be under for about an hour.

There are mixed views on the SLNB. If it's positive, you get treatment, even without symptoms. If you don't have it, you'll never know until you get symptoms, if you do. From what I know of stage 2b, only 20% of SLNB are positive, and it's 98% accurate. For me, I'm all about early intervention, and I want the whole shebang as soon as possible to minimise my future risk; that's how I decided, but it doesn't suit everyone as there are some potential side effects of having the SLNB, since they're removing 1-3 lymph nodes (I think).

I had some full body itching without rash for a few days, then it went away, then came back a bit, then lessened. Then my groin started to ache when I stretched, same side as the melanoma was, and usually I'd pass it off as gym-related, but if you Google, you end up going down a cancer rabbit hole, I've been driving myself mad. Logic goes out the window sometimes.

Definitely done the brave face thing, I didn't tell anyone even when I got the histology results. I have now, and I feel better for it, but since it's still a bit of an unknown, it feels harder to talk about. And I don't do well with 'everything will be okay', it's really not helpful.

So, I'll report back after the procedure tomorrow. I've told my partner I'd like waiting on hand and foot, and he can barely work the coffee machine....  

Hi thanks for reply, good luck tomorrow your be fine   x