<p>Anyone with experience with thin melanoma? Helpful suggestions appreciated.</p>
<p>If the lymph nodes are not involved (1a) and the tumor is removed, the prognosis is excellent. What types of suggestions were you looking for?</p>
<p>Lily - check out mpip.org It is a Melanoma support website. Amazing people there - they have lots of info for everyone from Stage I to Stage IV.<br>
Answers to questions regarding biopsies, treatment options, etc.<br>
Lots of very caring people there. They have a great bulletin board for questions/answers and a chat room.
Most stage one cases have very low recurrence rates.
Best wishes.</p>
<p>My husband just had a 1A melanoma removed from his upper arm this week.</p>
<p>First it was biopsied, with the 1A diagnosis. Then he went into surgery
(fully anesthesized). Afterwards, the surgeon explained to me that the surgery went well, there were “negative margins” noted apparently meaning they were able to remove all the cancer from the area. There was no indication of any spread beyond that. He also said there would be no need for additional chemotherapy or any other follow-up treatment.</p>
<p>H was told after the biopsy that typically a 1A melanoma does not involve spread of the disease and usually is treated successfully with a one-time surgery. He goes back this week to meet with the oncologist, so I will post as we learn more.</p>
<p>It’s my impression that if you have to have cancer at all, this is the best type to get in terms of prognosis.</p>
<p>My husband had the exact same thing – Stage I on his upper arm. It was removed, then – because the margins weren’t clean – more was excised. This was – oh, five years ago, and it hasn’t recurred.</p>
<p>I second the mpip.org recommendation. My sister in law’s battle with melanoma was an unusual and rare case - this site was very helpful to members of the family. Melanoma can be a very unpredictable and formidable disease. Stage 1a has a good prognosis. </p>
<p>Hers was 1b, discovered at age 18, and recurred 8 years later as metastatic throughout her system. This is extremely rare for 1b’s (5% maybe?), but it happens.</p>
<p>Siblings of anyone with melanoma and children should be screened thoroughly, as it does tend to occur in families. My husband has another sibling who is stage 0 (which has not gone beyond the first layer of skin - the best prognosis) - so we are all extremely vigilant. </p>
<p>Take care</p>
<p>Great site georgiamom & pumpkin. Ths for the recommendation. Sorry curiouser & VeryHappy that your H’s had to deal with this. Did either of them have a sentinel node bioposy?</p>
<p>I had surgery for stage II melanoma (chalk that up to ignorance and procrastination) abt 8 yrs ago and also had a sentinel node biopsy; my melanoma was close to the center of my back and near the base of the neck and so they did 4 biopsies to check lymph nodes in the neck and armpits on both sides of the body. Fortunately, there were no signs of cancer in any of the lymph nodes (and no recurrence of the cancer to date. Knock on wood). </p>
<p>The surgery in my case was pretty invasive and quite a bit of tissue was removed across the back of my neck leaving a scar several inches long (I also suffered from limited mobility in my neck and arms which continues to this day along with pain from the scar tissue. I was in therapy for several months afterwards, and since then have had periodic acupuncture and deep tissue massage to help lessen the pain. Daily yoga and heating pads have also helped to manage the pain. It has certainly effected my daily life and I now advise everyone in the family to get checked regularly).</p>
<p>Of course, the side effects I had are NOT typical with surgery for stage I or II melanoma; I’m guessing there are other genetic factors involved in my case since my mother had similar problems with her neck and arms - without the melanoma! (the propensity for that definitely came from dad’s Irish side of the family). </p>
<p>Best wishes to the OP!!</p>
<p>scansmom, I am sorry for the pain you still feel from your surgery. It is good news that you have had no recurrence of the cancer. Thank you for sharing your experience. It has been very helpful.</p>
<p>thanks - just one of life’s “lemons” 
but far better than the alternative!</p>
<p>[see 6-word memoir thread]</p>
<p>Congratulations on catching it early! The excisional biopsy is all you need for stage 1. Stage 2 gets you the wide excision and sentinal node biopsy (no fun- mine was 5 years ago, 6" long L upper arm scar- same side that gets the sun from the car window plus all those teen years and that college outdoor pool job…by the time I was in medical school and learned about melanoma the damage was done). You’ll want to continue with annual screening. NEVER let anyone do a “shave biopsy”. No need to see an oncologist or any other treatments.</p>
<p>wis, May I ask you why you advise against shave biopsies?</p>
<p>Haven’t thought about it for 5 years, but the technique of shaving off a mole does not give the pathologist good tissue or remove the whole mole for diagnosing/staging/curing a cancer. It’s one of those things outside my specialty that I remember as a don’t do (when I was diagnosed I read up on the topic of melanoma and consulted our friend the oncologist- as a physician I did more than needed by the average patient). Hopefully the physicians who used to do it have learned not to or retired by now. </p>
<p>An excisional biopsy of a stage 1 melanoma will cure it, the extent of cancerous cells will be removed with a wide enough margin of normal tissue; stage 2 definitions are such that a wider, deeper excision is required (less 5 years ago than a few years before that, but one can’t wait for next year’s knowledge with cancer) and they only need to biopsy the nodes that drain the mole’s area instead of all the nodes from that body part (in my case it was axillary nodes such as with breast cancer, it makes a diference in lymph drainage for that arm). No chemotherapy or, heaven forbid, radiation (the sun’s rays were more than enough). Once the invasion is stage 3 or 4 it is much more difficult to cure- get your screening people!</p>
<p>Mrs p2n has had two early stage melanomas removed to date, plus a number of basal cell cancers. Being blond-haired and blue-eyed and growing up in Florida has a price.</p>
<p>wis, thanks for this information.</p>
<p>parent2holes, this is why I won’t let my kid work as a lifeguard at an outdoor pool over the summer.</p>
<p>FYI- when I did my reading I found out the lowest incidence was Bombay (now Mumbai) and the highest incidence in Australia- all those fair skinned Englishmen did well to leave India, but not Australia…</p>
<p>I have a large and irregular freckle near the collarbone, and my S’s dermatologist did a shave biopsy of part of it last year. Now I’m a little worried. Do you think I should pursue it further?</p>
<p>Three time melanoma survivor here. I go once a Qtr to see my derm for a full body scan. My derm and I are on a first name, in the cell phone, call me anytime basis. Also concur to avoid a shave biopsy if possible. My motto has always been, “when in doubt, dig it out”. My 1st melanoma at age 22 was complicated because the derm did a shave biopsy and not an excision. At that age and time (early 80s) no one believed that a mole on a 22y.o. would be melanoma, so who could blame them. Some people are reluctant to do excisions because they leave a scar. Believe me, a scar is nothing compared to the alternative. Also, concur that melanoma can be an inherited trait. My brother died from a melanoma at age 29. My children are seen reqularly by a derm as well. We are all blond, blue eyed, fair skinned with lots of moles and freckles. I fully recommend that everyone have their spouse or significant other look over their hard to see spots (ie back, butt, upper backside of legs, scalp) once a month/qtr with a bright light. In addition, if you see an optometrist regularly, have them take a look at your retina, they are trained to do that. </p>
<p>Consolation. I don’t think you need to be concerned, but it wouldn’t hurt to see your derm for a follow up body scan.</p>
<p>It just makes you realize how blessed we are when everyone we love is healthy!</p>
<p>this is a good thread to read when you find yourself “sweating the small stuff.”</p>
<p>worknprogress, I agree! </p>
<p>Lukester, when you say “body scan” are you talking about a complete skin exam? I am so sorry to hear about your brother. My FIL died from this illness as well, but at 81. He was fair skinned and had many sunburns throughout his life. I saw some in photos from his childhood days. Use sunblock, long sleeves, hats! As far as inhertited trait-it is my understanding that children of someone who had MM are at 1% increased risk, and grandchildren have a .5% increased risk over the general population of getting a malignant melonama. If anyone has other statistics on that please let me know. Those were the statistics given to me by a physician specializing in this disorder at Sloan Kettering several years ago.</p>