I still have concerns
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July 20, 2012 at 1:07 pm #20500
Onlymej
ParticipantI was diagnosed with lentigo maligna in situ about 1 month ago. Had wle, no further abnormal cells were found. The surgeon, dermatologist just said its gone don’t worry about it anymore. Come back in 6 mo ths for skin check.
I feel awful. No one around me thinks this is a big deal, but I do. I feel unhealthy. I feel scared about the future. It’s the first thing I think about when I get up in the am.
A lot of the statistics about mis say survival is 99.5 . Um, what happens to the 1 out 200 people diagnosed with this? I am confused because if mis can’t spread how do they die? That part really scares me.
So is this completely cureable or not? Such conflicting information on the web.
July 20, 2012 at 1:34 pm #55590cohanja
ParticipantI don’t have an answer to your question, but just letting you know the fear is perfectly normal. I’m IA and I have intense fear about the future, obviously the rate for IA is lower than for in-situ. But, the fear is normal, the uncertainty, etc… July 20, 2012 at 2:34 pm #55591Catherine Poole
KeymasterI don’t know if I can reassure you with this, but nothing is 100% in life, in fact, there are so many things we could potentially worry about that could take our lives. But the best way to deal with anxiety is through meditation (mindful 2x day) exercise, eating right, getting and giving love, and counseling/medication if needed. Soon, with these practices, you should be able to get beyond this and move on to happier thought processes. July 20, 2012 at 3:23 pm #55592Onlymej
ParticipantThank you for your replies. Catherine, I know you are right in my head, but my heart is scared. I do many if those things but need to do more of them, more……. July 20, 2012 at 3:41 pm #55593cohanja
ParticipantIt’s an ironic thing. The higher stagers wish they only had the concerns of IA & IB’ers, while the IA and IB’ers wish they had the concerns and percentages of the in-situ folks, while the in-situ folks wish they were just severely atypical and not melanoma, etc. . . . I think the lesson is I guess be thankful as there are always those worse off than you. I go back & forth between feeling it’s unfair I’m even having to deal with any of this when the majority of others never have to . .and feeling like I may have dodged a bullet that is was caught on the early side when it was, but yet still having fear about it too. BTW, does the “Notify me when a reply is posted” function on the new site?
July 20, 2012 at 10:25 pm #55594Onlymej
ParticipantCohanja yes I agree with you. I k ow people say I should be happy but what is there to be happy about? No one knows what will happen in anyone’s future, I understand that, but this whole thing is ridiculous, chances and statistics mean nothing or this would not have happened to me, who always tans, dark hair and eyes etc. it all means nothing IMO, There is no security in any of that. And does anyone know the answer to my question, what happens to the 1 out of 200 melanoma In situ patients who don’t survive? This still confuses me. Are there any long term studies showing where they got these numbers from specifically about mis? Is this real number or I guess? Thanks!
July 21, 2012 at 12:37 pm #55595Worrywart
ParticipantIf you stood next to 200 people odds are a few of them would die in 5 yrs…stroke, heart attack, accident, etc. But you don’t go day-to-day worrying about those, right? So don’t let melanoma consume you, if it does, it wins. You are not alone, there are lots of in situ survivors out there. You will be one of them too! July 21, 2012 at 3:15 pm #55596Webbie73
ParticipantWorrywart , what a great way of putting the statistics into perspective! So listen up in situ and stage 1 people…stop worrying and go out and live! July 21, 2012 at 4:51 pm #55597cohanja
ParticipantI don’t know that we can quite lump in-situ and Stage I into the same “don’t worry” category, but I know what you’re saying July 21, 2012 at 5:42 pm #55598krissy424
ParticipantI’m a blue eyed blonde born in California, northern European by heritage. I baked in the valley sun as a kid AND in I’m in the medical field..i never saw this coming. Melanoma was a disease that kills. Never me. Now i thank god it’s me and not one of my kids. My grand daughter age five has used sunscreen every day of her life, plus she was born with four congenital moles including a large one on her scalp. At least i can pay it forward. Increase awareness and educate. Increasing awareness is difficult because I find the word melanoma tends to make people run in the other direction. i’m working this all out slowly. Kris
superficial spreading melanoma
June 15, 2012
breslow .55, clark II
deep shave, wide excision
– clear path reports-
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