Well its been quite a while since I blogged. Things are going pretty good, kids are all healthy besides the occasional cold they pick up at school. Currently, the only real drama in my life is worrying about whether my melanoma will come back. I had a spot removed in August, that came back as melanoma in-situ. That just means that it is stage O, or just sitting on the surface of the skin. Which is great! Im one of the lucky ones who discovered and had their cancer removed at the very earliest stage. The survival rates for melanoma at this stage are 99-100% at 5 and 10 years. My only problem is that my dermatologist didnt see the need for a follow-up excision, as per protocol, since he felt he had cauterized the margins well enough. He felt it was sufficient to have me come in once per year to look for any new pigment in the scar, at my yearly skin check. I was fine with that at first, but awhile back, I started having this gnawing feeling that I needed a second opinion. So of course, I hit the internet, joined a melanoma website (or three) and posted questions. I got lots of feedback that backed up my suspicion: I should have had that second excision to make sure the margins were in fact clear.
The next step was for me to get a copy of my pathology report. It clearly stated that "given the narrow margins, a 3 to 5 mm follow up excision is recommended to make sure a recurrence doesnt happen". Well, something to that effect. The next thing I did was go see another doctor and get a second opinion. He looked at the scar and my path report and promptly told me he was sending me for surgery at a MOHS surgery center in Spokane (2 hrs away). He said the other doctor didnt take enough of a "chunk" out. The scariest part was when he said he'd had quite a few patients die of melanoma, some of whom had the second WLE (wide local excision) and it still came back, and they died. He wasnt trying to scare me, he was just being blunt about how serious it to take the risk..he said "Im not a gambling man, so lets not take any chances". It feels pretty good to have a doctor treating the situation aggressively.
So, the patient rep is scheduling my appt and I should know by tomorrow when the surgery will be. I hope they get me in quick, as it's already been 6 months since my original diagnosis and there is a chance my cancer could be growing (if the first doctor didnt get it all). I'd rather be safe than sorry!
Here is a website I found that explains the MOHS procedure:
http://www.mohscollege.org/about/
