Hi,

I'm sorry that you are going through this heightened anxiety and that your husband is awaiting his results. Could you ask your GP for help with this, especially as you are already on medication? Hopefully the wait for the results won't be too long so I don't know if counselling is an option? Perhaps speak to Macmillan or a Maggies centre if there is one in your area. Have you tried meditation or Mindfullness? There are lots of videos on YouTube that may help distract your thoughts a little.

The thing to hang on to is that there is a chance the mole wasn't malignant. If it is malignant, it's really not the end of the world. If caught early stage, 95 to 97% of melanoma patients are successfully treated with surgery and never have any further problems so the odds are very much in his favour. There are also new drug treatments for those who do have a problem in the future and these treatments are showing great promise. So please don't jump to thinking it's worse case scenario and fixate on something that has only a very small chance of happening. Try take this a step at a time and wait to see what the results say. 

I hope you aren't waiting too long for the results & that they bring you both good news. Please let us know how you both get on,

Angie (Stage 3 melanoma patient since 2009)

Hi Angie

Thank you so much for your reply. I have taken your advice and am awaiting a call back from my GP. 

I appreciate your reassurance and indeed I've now read some of your replies to others, which contain equally reassuring information. 

Many thanks

Emma 

Hi again

Today my husband got his biopsy results. I'm gutted and scared. It was a melanoma and they said it was 1.1, whatever that means, and that in turn means it was just outside the boundary? Therefore he has to see a plastic surgeon to have a WLE? Why don't they explain these terms to people?! I don't know what any of this means!

He was given the option to have his nearest lymph node tested in case the cancer has spread and he has said yes. But they gave him the choice? Does this mean its a belt and braces approach rather than they definitely think it has travelled?

I'm sorry to be so wet but I am in bits here. I would appreciate any info that anyone could please give me.

I know I could Google for some of this info but I have heslth anxiety and don't trust myself to use Google for this sort of thing.

Thanks, Emma

Hi Emma,.

I'm sorry your husband's results were positive for melanoma but the good thing is that it's been caught early if the depth is 1.1mm. The consultant meant that the depth just put your husband over the borderline for being offered the option of a Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy. These are only done when the melanoma is 1mm+ in depth. It's an option because it's not a treatment - it's just a way to more acurately stage your husband (at the moment he is either Stage 1b if the melanoma wasn't ulcerated or 2a if it was ulcerated). A SLNB will show if any melanoma cell has broken away and lodged in the nearest lymph node which, if positive, would make him Stage 3. It's an option rather than a routine procedure as some patients don't choose it if they find that the 'possible' side effects outweigh the positive of an exact staging tool. If refused, they tend to offer regular ultrasounds of the nodal area throughout the monitoring check ups. The Wide Local Excision however is routine for every melanoma patient and that is a 'belt & braces' procedure to ensure that no cell has broken away into the surrounding tissue. 

I hope this helps and I will send you a friend request in case you would like to chat by private message instead of Googling which isn't helpful for anyone!

Angie x

Hello and thank you both so much for your kind replies 

Angie thanks so much for clarifying these terms and abbreviations. It makes more sense now and is in fact quite rreassuring. My husband was given all the information but they are just so busy that they didn't really spell it out in the way that we need. 

Thank you for your friend request I have accepted it. I am steering clear of Google for sanity sake!

Xx

Glad you've had some positive news out of this awful experience. Hopefully that will be that.