I think that you will be ok as 1a melanoma doesn't look very deep in the dermis.they are graded 0 to 4 obviously 0 best 4 worst!I don't actually have melanoma but a rare lymphoma called Mycosis Fungoides at stage 2b but as it, Mycosis Fungoides manifests on the skin,I have done plenty of research into other skin cancers....not to mention ezecma and psoriasis as I was originally misdiagnosed as having them until the thing became more sinister forming tumours and the real cause was discovered! good luck!

Thank you. I'm extremely lucky it's 1a and not spread, I totally understand my blessings there. It was a bit of a shock initially as nobody from nurse to GP to NHS Dermatologist to private Dermatologist thought it was likely to be malignant. 
 

I'm keen to better understand the implications of wide excision and exactly what's involved, how long it might take to heal up, what I'm likely to be able to do with my arm in the days and maybe weeks that follow. If anybody has an idea I'd be grateful to hear from you.

I don't know how long they take to heal but I had several mycosis fungoides tumours cut out of my left hand, unfortunately one took my middle finger with it!, apart from the finger the ones out the palm took about 2 weeks to heal but obviously the hand is very sensitive and they are two different types of cancer.

Hi - person best placed to answer this is going to be the surgeon. I've had various excisions for severely dysplastic lesions so on the border it was treat as melanoma. The one that went down into muscle on my tummy (excised decades ago) still has a bit of a dent. With that excision I struggled post-op because tummy muscle is impossible not to use. Not comparable with your situation as arm but not sure anyone on forum could say what impact on you specifically is going to be without knowing which muscle, arm shape, position of mole. Surgeon is best placed to advise for your specific lesion. Note that it's not just the width or the length but the depth margin here.

I'd follow their advice about driving and work. Also as they are going deeper and into muscle they might use more local anaesthetic. I had to request extra anaesthetic when they went into muscle. All fine. But I needed more recovery time afterwards for that lesion. 

So a little update which may be of help to anybody with similar to come.

Was in for the wide excision yesterday.

Relatively quick procedure, 4 injections of local anaesthetic (10ml I think) and off he went. Needed a slight top up (another 5ml maybe?) about half way through, wasn't painful per se more of a stinging sensation. Could feel a little bit of tugging but just zoned out.

Wheelchair back to my room (when did we become all American?!?), toast and a drink and I was good to go. In for 8, home for 1, not too shabby.

Tiny bit of bleeding through the dressing. I took it easy yesterday but needed some air have been fully isolating and not outside the house since Covid test earlier in the week.

Not the best night's sleep but I move around a lot. I'd say maybe a 1-2 for discomfort, wouldn't call it pain. Really want a shower but have to keep things dry for 3-4 days.

Follow up should be around 4 weeks when it's hopefully all clear. Just need 2 biopsy excisions on my back now, hoping to get things done by the end of the year.

Again as I type, I'm mindful that lots on here will be going through much tougher times and what's happened to me is nothing in the scheme of things, I'm very lucky so far.  

Hi - pleased all went okay and you only needed a small top-up. Be careful as sometimes the full impact doesn't hit immediately. I definitely found that pain kicked in more on days 2 and 3 than day 1. Really helpful of you to post an update. Wishing you well with your recovery and further excision biopsies. 

Again in the hope this may be of some help to people in a similar situation.

So wide excision was on Friday 13th, and in the main the arm has been relatively pain free. Some tightness and odd niggle but fortunate in that I took a week off work to give things a chance to start healing up and my job is sedentary so will continue to take it easy. The middle dressing can be removed at 2 weeks so will be interesting to see what things look like then. Right now either end of the incision looks fairly puffy and the indentation itself looks fairly pronounced. I'm hoping the swelling will reduce and the indentation will bulk back out again. I know it will never be perfect and it is what it is.

It is nearly 6 weeks from being seen in dermatology after the initial private diagnosis and I needed 2 further excision biopsies for my back. Naturally I want things to move as quickly as possible so I've been pretty persistent chasing up. I was told despite further clinics being put on they were working to mid September referrals and I was mid October so it would likely be another month. It shouldn't be this way but through being persistent and flexible I was offered an appointment late Friday afternoon and was in for the biopsy excisions late Saturday afternoon. Please, please don't leave things - be proactive and chase things up.

Seemed a good idea at the time but due to positioning of the back biopsies it's not all that comfortable, with the arm still being a little tender now have to be careful with lower back on the midline and left distal side. Still a small price to pay for progress and hopefully all histopyhology will be back before the end of the year.

Wow! That is proactive getting those back biopsies done. The back can be difficult. I've had a lot of back excisions and spent a few days just lying on tummy afterwards unable to do much (positioning near shoulder muscles can be awkward too). 

Wishing you all the best with both results and on-going recovery for the arm WLE. Lucky you did take that week off work as the surgeon recommended.

My recent excision looked a bit odd at the ends for a while because of how they pulled the skin together to close it but is fine now. Took well over a month to settle and for me to feel properly comfortable with it though... Always going to look a bit odd. Small price for getting rid of a beastie. Hoping you don't need further surgery and the margins they've taken for the biopsies prove sufficient.

Take care and thanks for the update.