Thursday night, I discovered a black firm elevated bump/mole in my belly button. It does not look right, and upon googling, it really looks like nodular melanoma. Who knows how deep down it has spread, I am so scared. I left a message for my dermatologist Thursday evening, and called again Friday morning. They couldn’t get me an appointment until Monday afternoon and it’s with a new doctor since my doctor apparently retired. I tried calling other dermatologists but they had no appointments for weeks. So now I wait until Monday. Everything I’m reading about nodular melanoma says it spreads quickly and be fatal within weeks to months.
What happens if they confirm it is nodular melanoma but I can’t get an appointment with an oncologist or have surgery to remove it for weeks? I don’t want to die because I’m waiting and can’t get an appointment. I feel like it’s spreading and I’m helpless. Anyone have any tips for getting prompt melanoma treatment surgeries/blood work/oncology etc?
I had a brown mole on my upper left thigh slowly fade away and then transform into a disgusting bloody growth. My doctor thought it was a pyogenic granuloma and removed it for me.
It was sent away for biopsy and came back as an extremely ulcerated nodular melanoma that was 3.55mm Breslow, Clark level IV.
It was removed with clear margins but the doc wanted me to go and have a wide area incision and take a few lymph nodes out at the same time. Three were removed and one came back positive for micro metastasis so I was classed at a stage 3c.
After having a healthy looking CT scan and an MRI, I started MEK/TAF last month and have never felt better to be honest, I keep waiting for the side effects to kick in but so far I have been lucky.
I have regular ECGs, MUGA scans, bloodwork etc and so far everything looks OK.
In case anyone is interested, here are a few photos of the nodular melanoma, the first set of stitches, and then an after photo of the huge scar after they dug down to scrape some more tissue out.
https://imgur.com/a/1Q9Na3e/
I’ll try and keep this post updated, no news is good news as they say.
For all you melahomies out there, stay safe and keep positive.
“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters”
Hello, I'm a 23M, average height, average weight. A few months ago I noticed a small reddish brownish bump on my back and thought it was just a cherry angioma so I brushed it off. Today I realized that it grew larger, it is FIRM, and it is raised. I'm terrified that it might be nodular melanoma- which I've heard is symmetrical and small. I have pretty bad health anxiety to begin with, and haven't slept all day. Hopefully I will be seeing a dermatologist tomorrow. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
