tell me your experience with stage 2 melanoma, one spot,

My mother was just diagnosed with one spot of melanoma just yesterday so I’ll be following this thread. She didn’t mention what stage but her surgery is scheduled for next week. She’s had skin cancer in the past but it wasn’t melanoma last time.

Wishing you well. I know it’s scary to get a cancer diagnosis.

Watch it like a hawk. Melanoma can be deadly.

My Mom had a melanoma on her head at age 76. Had surgery and skin graft as it was a pretty big area for doc to get good margins. Since then (5 years ago) she goes every 6 months as maintenance and the doc checks her from top to bottom. Surgery was all she needed, no other treatment and nothing has been found since.

No advice, other that to listen to your Dr and get second opinions. I will be thinking of you!

So sorry to read about your diagnosis. I lost a brother to melanoma back in 2000. The original site was removed. He failed to continue the recommended follow-ups. By the time he went to the dr about the reoccurence, it was too late. Please, please make sure to attend all follow-up visits.

Ok- finally made it back. This is going to be long but it's really detailed. My DH has BRAF V600+ melanoma.

My Dh had a melanoma on his back in December 2013. They removed it, did't get a clear margin the first time so went back a week later and cut a wider margin. We thought we were good. They did follow up checks every 6 months. Covid hit and dermatology quit doing routine checks (March 2020). His (any my) dermatologist retired and no one picked up the ball. DH wasn't really worried since it had been 6 years and he was good in all that time.

In May 2023, DH was at the fair with the kids and almost passed out from heat. Figured he was just overwhelmed with the heat and needed to get home to the cool. He's never had heat issues before. About that same time he noticed that his underarm was swollen a little and he had pain in his arm but again, didn't think anything of it- just that he must have aggravated something. June 2023 found him with a huge lump under his arm and a fever so he went to the ER because the doctors office couldn't get him in for weeks. They checked him out, did a CT, figured it was an infection in his lymph nodes and gave him antibiotics and sent him on his way with instructions to follow up the next week with a doctor for a biopsy/check. He went the next week and they did a punch biopsy. It was melanoma in his lymph nodes under his arm. Oncology was involved and they tried Keytruda prior to surgery in August 2023. The Keytruda caused his body to attack his liver so he spent 10 weeks taking prednisone to kill the keytruda reaction. He had a brain MRI August 2023 to make sure there was none in his brain. It was clear. Surgery to remove the lymphnodes/cancer was Friday October 13th. They removed 10 lymph nodes and it was in 7 of them. The doctor was pretty sure he got it all but in his words "there was a LOT of cancer there wrapped around nerves". We thought we were good to go at that point. On DH's 50th birthday (December 12th) he called me at work to let me know he called 911 on himself because he had a seizure or stroke or something. I left work and zoomed home- at that time I just KNEW that the melanoma was in his brain. My uncle passed away in July 2023 with brain melanoma- they found his too late. In the ER they did CT scans and PET scans and an MRI of his brain and found 3 tumors toward the center of the brain hemispheres area. They were pushing on motor neurons causing him to have seizure like movements. He was put on Decadron (super strong steroid) to control brain swelling and anti seizure meds. He did one blast of targeted radiation right before Christmas on those and they shrunk slowly. The next few months are a blur to me dealing with his brain stuff and watching for seizures. In Feb 2024, he had a small lump show up on his neck. We watched it but didn't do anything about it. In early March 2024, he had a headache but went ahead with the planned immune therapy appointment of Opdivo/Yervoy on March 8 (my son's b-day). The next day he refused to get out of bed and was vomiting. It only got worse from there- he refused to eat or get out of bed for a week. I finally was able to get his oncologist to talk to me and she ordered a new round of scans. On 3/16/24, he had another brain MRI that showed EIGHT new tumors in his frontal lobe. He doesn't remember ANY of March and part of April. He was in major pain and peed himself multiple times and fell a lot. He was embarrassed by it all. I had to have his mom come daily and make sure he got out of bed or he would have laid there all day and not taken his meds. I had to work (teacher) because there's no way I could be out that long. He had 5 rounds of radiation on these and slowly came back to us. Since he was back on the steroid he could no longer do immune therapy so he was given chemo. On MY birthday (4/28) he was in the ER with a rash over most of his body due to the chemo (Cotellic/Zelboraff) but his tumor on his neck which grew to golf ball size in 8 weeks was GONE! He did 13 days of that chemo. He recovered mostly from that and his doctor tried another chemo (Braftovi/Mektovi) and he lasted 3 days on that before the muscle and joint pain was too much for him. He's STILL dealing with the issues caused by that one 4 months later! He spent the summer getting off of the steroid. The PET and MRI in July showed no new tumors neck down and the ones in his brain that were radiated in March were shrinking or stable. He just started back on the opdivo/yervoy immune therapy on Monday this past week and we're hopeful that it will work for him. His body reacts HUGE to meds so fingers crossed this one doesn't cause issues for him.

So.... be diligent! Don't miss scans and appointments. I'm not sure that the routine checks would have caught DH's since it blew up FAST. His tumors grow very quickly. No brain tumors August 2023 and 3 good sized brain tumors December 2023. The one on his neck went from pea sized at the beginning of Feb 2024 to golfball size in March 2024. The 3 brain tumors in Dec.2023 became 8 new ones in a different area in March 2024. Melanoma grows FAST and LOVES going to the brain, lungs, and liver.

For those that have had any type of skin cancer, do you have photos of what it looked like before diagnosis? I have seen pics online but then when I talk to people who had skin cancer they describe it differently than the photos. I am interested in knowing what to watch for, as a fair skinned redhead who has a lot of strange skin things going on.

MichyM you are accurate in that not everyone will have the same issues as my DH. BUT melanoma has a known "10 year recurrence" thing. We seriously thought we were good to go after the removal in 2013 and clear followups for over 5 years. I was religious about skin checks yearly at the dermatologist and then I was told the last time I was in that my physician is my first person to contact if I have a concerning spot and they'll triage and send to dermatology if required- I have an HMO. Um, no thank you. I want to see someone who SPECIALIZES in skin not someone who knows a bit about everything and is really good at making sure I stay healthy.

iamkristinl16 my Dh's looked splotchy and changed over the course of a few years. My cousin noticed it in a throw back picture on Facebook and saw it later that week? day? when we were out and commented on it. I had to push DH to get in and have it looked at. I've had multiple spots removed on me- pink spots that never healed, scaly marks that were scabby. A few were basal cell carcinoma's. Removed and moved on with life.

USA Today has an article about Jimmy Carter and his nine years of surviving mets to the brain from melanoma. Doctors credit it to the immunotherapies he has received.

My mom had thinning short hair that she always dyed a bright burgundy before the surgery. After surgery she wouldn't grow her hair long, so she has just been shaving her whole head. I am glad because there is one very small spot where the skin graft did not quite take so we have to monitor the spot for infection. She is getting great joy out of buying many (and I mean many!) hats and head covers to wear when she goes out.