A recent study indicates that melanoma rates are on the rise. US News reports "Rates of melanoma increased by 3.1 percent a year, the researchers found. The increased rate was for all types of melanoma and for all thicknesses of tumors. Moreover, the rate of melanoma doubled in all socioeconomic groups, while deaths from the disease did not increase significantly."
If you have a spot - go get it checked.
Weight loss and fitness products
Monday, January 19, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Level 3, Malignant Melanoma
The beginning of last summer, I noticed a small black spot on my back. It was no more than the size of an eraser head. I knew I should probably have it checked out, but we live in a boating town and I didn’t want to hear the doctor tell me to stay out of the sun. I let it go until fall.
When I finally made an appointment, I was an hour early. I’d forgotten the time change (the office was across the river in a different time zone), so I rescheduled. My husband was livid and made me go back, right then.
The doctor took a look and said I was not going to be leaving his office with “That” on me. He went on to let me know I should thank my husband because he may have saved my life. OK, getting scary.
He cut the thing out and sent it for testing. It normally takes about 7 days. I’m not sure if it really took longer or if they just didn’t want to give me results over the phone, but it ended up with me back in the office two weeks later for a MUCH larger excision.
It was a Level III, Malignant Melanoma. Melanoma is the deadliest skin cancer out there. Level III traditionally means it’s in the lymph nodes. I was scared to death for a month, waiting for the pathology, blood work, and x-ray information to come back.
They removed it in time. I have a huge scar and am much wiser these days. It’s very scary waiting to hear if you’re going to live or die. I spend a lot of time now trying to educate everyone I know about the dangers of skin cancer.
If you have anything changing, get it checked. If you have any new spots, get them checked. Anything out of the ordinary, get it checked. Or you can end up with something like this (if you live):
When I finally made an appointment, I was an hour early. I’d forgotten the time change (the office was across the river in a different time zone), so I rescheduled. My husband was livid and made me go back, right then.
The doctor took a look and said I was not going to be leaving his office with “That” on me. He went on to let me know I should thank my husband because he may have saved my life. OK, getting scary.
He cut the thing out and sent it for testing. It normally takes about 7 days. I’m not sure if it really took longer or if they just didn’t want to give me results over the phone, but it ended up with me back in the office two weeks later for a MUCH larger excision.
It was a Level III, Malignant Melanoma. Melanoma is the deadliest skin cancer out there. Level III traditionally means it’s in the lymph nodes. I was scared to death for a month, waiting for the pathology, blood work, and x-ray information to come back.
They removed it in time. I have a huge scar and am much wiser these days. It’s very scary waiting to hear if you’re going to live or die. I spend a lot of time now trying to educate everyone I know about the dangers of skin cancer.
If you have anything changing, get it checked. If you have any new spots, get them checked. Anything out of the ordinary, get it checked. Or you can end up with something like this (if you live):
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)