Hi Jojo,

Welcome to our forum. I have had 2 bouts of breast cancer in the past 10 years and, I have had 3 moles removed last year. One was on my face, just below the eye, the other was on the inside of my ankle and the third one was on my back. My Lymphoedema nurse was first to notice the one on my back and, she advised me to get it seen to. My GP referred me to a Dermatologist, who advised me that there was nothing sinister with the lesion and discharged me.

Last Christmas my son noticed one under my eye and advised me to get it looked at too. I had the same wait to see the Dermatologist, but this time she did feel that it might be malignant. She referred me to a Plastic Surgeon for an excision biopsy. Because of where it was, she thought that I might need plastic surgery to heal it up afterwards.

Whilst I was with the Plastic Surgeon, I asked about another lesion on my inner ankle. He thought that this looked suspect too, so did an excision biopsy on both. I had to keep the dressing on my face for 1 week and returned to hospital then to get the stitches removed. I had to keep the one on my leg covered for 2 weeks and returned to the practice nurse to get them taken out. Fortunately when the pathology results came back, they were both benign.

I had no great discomfort from either and, no need for plastic surgery at all. You wouldn't notice the scarring to the left of my nose, even if you knew that it was there. There is a small scar on my ankle, but I can't say that this worries me. The worst part, is waiting for the biopsy results. Try to keep yourself as busy as you can to distract yourself from the wait.

Please keep in touch and let us know how you get on. We are always here for you.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Hi,

I'm sorry that you are going through all this but can I try & put your mind at rest. An in-situ melanoma is the 'best' type of melanoma diagnosis you can receive (if that's not an oxymoron)! In-situ means that the melanoma hasn't grown in depth and is contained in the epidermis (top layer of skin). Because it hasn't grown below the top layer it can't spread vertically - vertical growth is what causes spread. However, they like to remove surrounding tissue in a Wide Local Excision to ensure it doesn't spread horizontally and cause future problems.

I hope this helps & good luck with your WLE. Please let us know how you get on,

Angie (melanoma patient)

Hi angie thank you for your reply! But that sounds very reassuring thank you so much I've also had some small tiny black lines on my fingers nails I think it's on like 4 nails now and that's worried me a little but aswell but I am also a very massive over thinker and suffer with health anxiety! But I hope you are well too

I hope you don't mind me jumping in (trying to understand this forum being a new user!) 

I am recovering from WLE for a melanoma in situ (inner right thigh) and wondering about the healing as it seems to be taking longer to heal, 11 days post-op, a bit of oozing and pink new skin forming... also pain under left armpit but I'm sure that's more hormonal / being run down. Keeping those steri strips firmly on for longer than my first excision of mole.

I am probably being OTT as so thankful for the 'in situ' diagnosis and although awaiting the further biopsy results the Doc was fairly confident nothing else would be found, but this whole experience has been so hard to deal with, esp me being anxious about my health.

Any advice on the healing / watch outs would be most helpful!

Thank you

Angharad x

Hi Angharad,

If the pink is new skin forming then that sounds like it's healing. Oozing sometimes happening in the first few days but as it's 11 days post surgery I would perhaps contact your GP surgery and ask if a nurse can look at the wound. If they can't do it then contact the Specialist Nurse at Dermatology if you've been given a contact number or the consultant's secretary. They may suggest that you attend the hospital dressings clinic for it checking. The one thing you have to watch out for is infection. The signs are when the surrounding area starts to go pink/red, the area gets bigger over a day or two and it feels hot. This is cellulitis and it needs nipping in the bud quickly with antibiotics. As it's now the weekend, if you are worried it might be an infection I would either phone the out of hours GP or NHS Direct.

Hopefully it's just the healing process but keep an eye on it. Please let us know how you get on,

Angie (melanoma patient)