I have been diagnosed with stage 1B melanoma and attended my outpatient clinic yesterday to discuss the procedure, alongside a wider local excision of two mones which were removed.  Only one of them needs the SLNB procedure, and is in my upper arm.

I have decided that I definitely want to go ahead with the procedure, because I want to know whether it has spread to the lymph nodes, so that I can then have any treatment that is necessary.  I had read all around it, Using the very helpful leaflets that were given to me after my initial diagnosis and had definitely reached the conclusion that I wanted to have an SLNB.  

However, , the consultant has posed another dilemma for me now. Apparently, at the hospital I’m going to attend, they also offer a SLNB using a fluorescent dye rather than the radio active isotope that is used as gold standard. This alternative procedure he explained,  has not been scientifically proven to be as effective, but due to problems and delays using the radiology equipment, in their opinion, it offers an effective and equally successful result.

The main advantage is that it would enable me to have the procedure done sooner. We’re currently talking a 6 to 8 week wait (excluding Christmas) for the gold standard treatment and maybe a couple of weeks earlier than that for the alternative.

So I  have to decide - time versus standard, tried and tested procedure.  Obviously I don’t want to end up with a false negative result, but I really want to find out as soon as possible whether it has spread!

Has anyone else faced this dilemma? I’d love to know how  and what you decided to do.