May is Melanoma Awareness Month

[NC State]

We found out this week that my 22 year old daughter has melanoma. She's having surgery on June 16th and will have the reports back on June 22nd. She's so brave about everything and I can't let her see that I'm the one that's falling apart. She's my only child. We know that she's in good hands and she has a great doctor at UNC Cancer Clinic. I hate UNC basketball/football because I'm a Wolfpacker but I'm glad that we have a great place to go for research and help.

I would like to find some things like t-shirts, etc with melanoma cancer support for the family, anyone know where I could find some things like that?

 

[luvmy3]

I don't know where to find those items but I justwanted to send good thoughts and wishes to your dd, you and your family

 

[7beasley]

NC State

First - hugs and prayers to you and your DD.

Second - a great site is MPIP.org -- they have a bulletin board and a TON of info!!

Third - I have been where you are. My dad was diagnosed with Melanoma in May - 5 years ago this month. He is doing great now though. It was caught early and that is the secret. After my dad was diagnosed I made everyone I know go get a skin check and would you beleive was father in law was diagnosed with melanoma in June 5 years ago as well - he is doing great now too!!

Both my dad and FIL were stage 2. That means it was deep in the skin but had not spread to the lymph nodes or organs. In situ is very cursory on the skin -- that is the BEST stage to get diagnosed at. From there its stage 1 - in the skin but not super deep. Stage 2 is in the skin but deep. Stage 3 is in the lymphs and Stage 4 is in the organs.

Do you know any stats yet about your daughter? How was she diagnosed - how was it removed - if they did a punch biopsy she can get info re how large it was and how deep - that would be helpful info to have. If they did a shave biopsy they won't know this info.

My Dad and father in law see the dermatolgist and surgeon every 4 months or so for checkups and this will continue forever. But they have both been lucky - no reoccurences -- no problems -- they had the melanoma mole removed -- had the sentinel node lymph node test and had surgery to get clear margins around the mole --- and my dad had a CT scan and my FIL a PET scan to check their body --- once they both got the all clear -- they now just go for checkups.

They also wear sunscreen faithfully. And they both buy alot of their clothes from COOLIBAR (google it) - its a company that sells sun repellant clothes.

My prayers are with your family. Chance are your daughter will be fine - I am sure it was caught early given her age - she will have to be vigalent forever checking herself and getting her skin checks 3-4 times a year and always erring on the side of caution - if something looks weird - get it removed and checked!!

I (unfortunately) know alot about this topic so I am glad to answer ANY questions you have either here or by PM!!!

Hugs!
Nicole

 

[NC State]

She went in two weeks ago and had the biospy (part of the mole was removed), we just received word that it was Melanoma on Wednesday and Thursday we were at UNC. We don't know anything until she has the surgery. It's on her shin and she will be getting a skin graph because of the size that she's having removed. They think it's in the early stage but will not know until June 22nd. Thank you for the information, I'm still in shock so I don't know what questions to ask the staff yet. Thank you again for the information, I will pass this to her.

 

[7beasley]

Hi again

I really encourage both of you to check out mpip.org -- there is ALOT of info there!!

Good luck.

 

[SCHBR'smom]

to you and your daughter. Please keep us updated.

 

[Disnewbie76]

My mother was diagnosed with melanoma about 20 or so years ago.. She is doing fine. They had to remove an area in the center of her back about the size of a grapefruit. Now she has to go to the dermatologist every 6 months for checkups. I have had SEVERAL areas cut off of me that always come back "benign dysplastic" which is the fancy term for not cancer, but it has cells that are changing that direction. I too have to go to the dermatologist every six months. If only I had known better to not get sunburned so badly and so often when I was a kid. Now I am very careful with my children since both my wife and I are fair skinned and hence they are too. It kills me every time I hear one of my friend's wives saying they are going to go and tan......not good.

 

[DVC-Don]

Mine was caught early back in 1996. I had two surgeries and no reoccurance to date. I still have to be checked over once a year though.

 

[luvthatdisney]

We too have taken the melanoma journey. My DS was dx'd with melanoma 3 years ago when he was 15. He is seen by his oncologist every 6 months now (was every 3 months). His lesion was on his face in the temple area. He now has a large scar down the side of his face. He was staged as 1b, due to size of his lesion.

I too frequent MPIP.org every day. I do not post much, but I try to keep up with treatments being discussed.

I never dreamed my young son would be diagnosed with melanoma. I always associated it with older people, but I was so wrong! I just saw a young girl today at a neighbor's birthday party, she had a huge mole on her arm that had every sign of melanoma. She did not have a parent with her, if she had I would have inquired about that mole!

I am so keyed into looking at moles now. It is so sad how this cancer can consume your life. I am lucky that my DS handles it well.

 

[Pixiedust34]

Here is a link

http://choosehope.com/commerce/catalogType.jsp?catId=40

with Melanoma awareness products.

I'm sorry to hear about your dd. My dh has had melanoma, basal, squamous, and also many pre-cancer cells treated. He now gets a full body screening every three months. Luckily, so far, everything has been caught early enough to be treated OK but he's had some type of positive reading every three months for quite a while and we've been sitting on edge worrying about skin cancer.

Your dd is in my prayers. I hope that it can all be removed with a surgery and that she'll be OK afterward.

 

[HARASW]

NC, I am sending lots of good wishes and prayers to your DD and your family!

I haven't had to deal with melanoma, but I have had 2 bcc removed off of my face within the last year and have had a number of scares. My next full body scan is in 2 weeks.

I'm glad to hear that you have found a doctor that you trust! Best of luck!

 

[NC State]

Thank you everyone for the support!

 

[MizTink]

how is a full body scan done?

 

[tazdev3225]

I had a funny "freckle" on my shoulder last year. My dr wasn't concerned but sent me to a dermatologist. She said it looked like a freckle but to be sure she was doing a biopsy. It came back as an atypicle something, it was a completely flat mole. The next thing I knew I was having surgery to remove it. It turned out to be caught at the earliest stage possible. If I had not noticed that it just looked different who knows what would have happened. The surgeon took a lot of surrounding tissue to be sure but the entire thing was removed. I go for a full body scan every 6 months as well as doing a self check monthly. A full body scan just means the dr goes over your skin and looks for anything suspicious.

 

[NC State]

We (me and the husband) will be having one of these soon, we just want Amanda to have her surgery first.

 

[NC State]

Don't forget your sun screen today!

 

[tazdev3225]

My local news show did a feature on this and the need for sunscreen today. The dermatologist they interviewed said that all sunscreen should be replaced every year even though it has a use by date that has not expired. Being in the heat causes its effectiveness to break down. She also said that an SPF of 30 is okay. It should be redone every 2 hours or so because sweat and water wash it away, even the sweatproof ones. The higher numbers are ok but many people get a false sense of security from them. I guess I'll be heading off to the store today to get a new stock of sunscreen.

 

[AnimalKingdomLover15]

We found out this week that my 22 year old daughter has melanoma. She's having surgery on June 16th and will have the reports back on June 22nd. She's so brave about everything and I can't let her see that I'm the one that's falling apart. She's my only child. We know that she's in good hands and she has a great doctor at UNC Cancer Clinic. I hate UNC basketball/football because I'm a Wolfpacker but I'm glad that we have a great place to go for research and help.

I would like to find some things like t-shirts, etc with melanoma cancer support for the family, anyone know where I could find some things like that?

I feel your pain. I have seen this post, and for some reason I could not open it...I am sitting here in tears now. My daughter age 25. A newlywed and 8 months pregnant was just diagnosed today. She is living in Austin Texas. She is seeing the surgeon tomorrow, so we have no idea what stage she is in etc. I just know she is a MESS! This is a bad year. My dad just finished two months of external and internal radiation, my mom had two rounds of cancer recently and myself.

Her's was a mole on her chest she was born with. I noticed back in sept that it grow and got bigger, I asked her then to get it checked, but due to no insurance....nope..
so please keep her in your prayers...