Subungual Melanoma referral

Hi, I'm new here and worrying like mad. I had a fungal nail on my thumb with a light black line down the side, I went the docs twice and they said it's more than likely fungal as the rest of my nail was yellow brown and crumbling off. I was told to use a home remedy of nail applicator which can take up to a year. They don't like to give pills for fungal nail as I would need a liver function test due to the strength of them apparently. 

Anyway, I just carried on with my home treatment for nearly a year now, the black has thickened and is starting to raise my nail bed at the side. At the weekend, blood was spurting everywhere from and it was seeping blood all weekend. my nail went flat but stayed black. it's now raised up again with what looks like a lump of skin (I thought it was a blood blister) but smelling so I went to my gp again to treat infection if I had one.

saw a different gp and he agreed I had an infection and gave me anti bs. He then said he was referring me to a specialist and to expect an appointment within 2 weeks to be tested for menalona! 

straight away I went to Dr Google, I cannot sleep with fear, I'm 40 with a 6 year old son and no other family. I'm petrified that the black line has been there for well over a year and nothing has been done and it could potentially now have put my life at risk. Can somebody advise me or help me relating to this I'm so so scared waiting for an appointment and all I'm doing is imagining the worst.

Thankyou 

  • Hi sorry to hear about you mum's diagnosis, hope she is doing well now. I just want to ask a question as I'm really worried because I will be having a nail biopsy tomorrow. After your mum's biopsy did they prescribed her witj pain killers? I'm so scared as ai read horror stories how painful it is once the anaesthetic wear off

  • Hi there hope you are doing well, can I ask some question as I'm so worried because I'll be having my nail biopsy tomorrow. Will the surgeon prescribe pain killers after the surgery? I'm so worried about the pain, I have very low pain tolerance. Thinking they would not prescribe me with pain killers is making me cry and so scared I can't imagine myself being in too much pain.

  • Hi there hope you are doing well, can I ask some question as I'm so worried because I'll be having my nail biopsy tomorrow. Will the surgeon prescribe pain killers after the surgery? I'm so worried about the pain, I have very low pain tolerance. Thinking they would not prescribe me with pain killers is making me cry and so scared I can't imagine myself being in too much pain.

  • Hi Mariandy

    I'm so sorry I have not replied to you sooner, I have only just read your post. I do hope that your biopsy went as planned and hope that you are not too sore, I found that taking paracetamol was sufficient for pain relief, also keep your hand elevated if it feels sore as that will help.

    I ahd my thumb amputated on 7th April, my Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy on the 19th May - the tumour was removed fully with clear margins and the SLNB came back clear, so that's good news for me, however the CT scan did show a nodule in my lung so I am due to have my next scan to0 check that next week on the 6th July. It's such a rollercoaster of emotions and lots of appointments etc to get through, but hey ho, staying positive is the best thing we can do for ourselves and each other!

    Wishing you well and fingers crossed your results will come back negative for you. 

    Best wishes xx

  • Hiya,

     

    I was wondering if anyone could give me a little bit of advice/ information, please.

     

    I originally went to see my GP 7 weeks ago when I noticed that over a 12 week period a small freckle on the sole of my foot had grown, got much darker  (basically black in the middle now) and had become irregular. I also noticed another long thin mole had appeared on my big toe of the same foot. GP said he wasn't overly concerned but because the one on my sole had changed he would refer me via the 2WW to see a dermatologist. Saw the dermatologist 10 days later, who said the same but that he wanted me to have the one on the sole of my foot removed asap "just incase" and then IF it came back as something untoward, he would remove the one on my big toe. But that he wanted a plastic surgeon to remove it instead of himself. Plastic surgeon appointment finally came around 5 weeks later, where she wanted to see the mole herself. Off I go, she says she's removing both of them together asap, and walks out of the room after sending me for photos. 4 days later I am already booked in for biopsy tomorrow!!

     

    Does this mean they saw something they didn't like in the photos? (I was told I could be waiting up to 6 months so 4 days seems crazy fast!!).

     

    I am also PETRIFIED of needles, it is the only thing I get anxiety attacks about (silly, I know).

     

    How bad is the pain of the anaesthetic injection? And how long does the injection pain last for before it becomes numb? Is it over reasonably quick? I have a high pain threshold in general, but with needles my brain gets carried Away!

     

    Thanks for reading and apologies for the length of it