Things are moving… finally

Things are finally moving again, which is good. I was right. My case had got stuck in the system. I chased it up and kept asking for answers until I got them.

My case will now be assessed on October 26th for a second opinion on whether a re-excision is needed on my right calf where a very early-stage melanoma was removed at the end of August. That’s nearly six weeks after I was told a second opinion would be sought. I know there’s no rush and my case is borderline, but that is quite a long time. I’ve been assured “it’s not usually like this”.

The issue is that while the melanoma was removed, they got slightly less healthy tissue from the area surrounding the melanoma than the guidelines recommend (Things are rarely straightforward). I’ve been told again that a re-excision – a narrow one – is probably what will be recommended so they do in fact get the full 1cm clear margin that the guidelines say we should have. It’s precautionary, but better safe than sorry. I’m happy with that. I’ll meet with the plastic surgeon to discuss the results and next steps on November 1st. As I said, there’s no rush. If a re-excision is indeed what we decide on, it can wait until after I get back from the two-week trip to Cambodia that I’m going on with one of my brothers on November 2nd. Yes, yes, it’s a complete self-indulgence but if there’s one thing I’ve learned from the whole breast cancer experience, it’s that life is for living.  If you can, then why not.

The leg wound is now well on the mend and I’m exercising again. I did my local 5k Parkrun last Saturday – my slowest time in well over a year after seven weeks of enforced inactivity – and I’ve been back on the tennis courts. I have four tennis matches planned over the next seven days. I’m clearly making up for lost time.

I’ve been thinking about how I’m feeling about this whole melanoma thing. It’s strange. I was pretty shell shocked initially (Melanoma? You’ve got to be kidding), as you’d expect. Now I’ve got my head round it, I’m at the stage where I see it as more of an annoyance than anything else. Friends who are only finding out about it now are more upset and outraged than I am. I know if this were a first cancer diagnosis I’d be freaking out and I know too that melanoma’s known as the nasty skin cancer because it can spread very quickly. But I really do feel I’ve got off lightly. Cut it out and hopefully that’s it. A possible re-excision? That’s ok too, although a skin graft would not be great if that’s what’s needed – I’m hoping it won’t be.

Perhaps I’m being naive. Or perhaps it’s sheer relief that it was caught so early. That’s not to say I’ll be able to just brush it off. I’m already looking at a couple of freckles/moles/brown spots – call them what you want – and wondering how long they’ve been there or whether they’ve always been that size. But I just cannot “do” worry the way I did with breast cancer. I know how destructive it is; I can’t do that again.

Let’s see what November 1st brings. Re-excision or not, skin graft or not, I’ll be taking my running shoes to Cambodia.

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