Melanoma

[Froomp]

I was sent to a dermatologist yesterday, about a black line under my toe nail. I expected him to send me on my way reassured it was just one of those things. Instead he has told me I need a biopsy and will get the appointment in the next week or so (cue panic).
The line has been under my toe nail for at least 8/9 months. If this is Melanoma is this going to be too late for effective treatment?
And has anyone had a biopsy and it turned out not to be cancer? The dermatologist said looking at it he was sure it wasn’t blood, which rules out trauma so what else could it be?
I’m in a real state and don’t know how to talk myself down.

justilou1 I wouldn’t be that proud, I have left it 7/8 months which may well be too late. I thought it was just trauma. If it isn’t I will never forgive myself.

OP, there's no way of knowing what stage you would be if it even is cancer, so please try not panic about it being too late. Some people are diagnosed when they've had symptoms for much longer than that and treatment is successful. There's no way of knowing until results come back but 8 months isn't necessarily an immediate death sentence and cancer treatment has a good success rate these days. Do you know how long it'll be until you know? I'm sorry you're going through this, I can feel your worry and stress through your words

Biopsy is scheduled for 4th October. Then I guess it’s a week or two after that. I can just feel in my bones it’s cancer and it’s too late. I’m aware that sounds ridiculous

OP take a deep breath , you are doing all the right things. Is it on your big toe and does the line go horizontally or vertically.
This type of cancer is very rare on white people so it may very well be totally benign. They biopsy anything they are not 100 percent sure of. I have had a lump removed which was confirmed by scan to be a harmless lipoma and it had been there years and they still sent it off to be biopsied. They are doing exactly the right thing. A lot of things can be treated now so try not to worry too much until you know what it is. The chances of it being harmless are really high. Worrying won’t help at all. Maybe ask your dr for some anti anxiety medication during the wait ( I know it’s not always the answer but it can be hard to function in this state). Best of luck op

You HAVE been and you ARE booked. You don’t know the arseing about I’ve heard about with some people.... Including someone who went for years and years with one under her toenail. That story’s not so great.

Thehokeypokeyiswhatitsallabout Dermatologist looked at nail with a Dermatoscope, so when he says it’s not trauma/ is a pigmented lesion I imagine he’s quite sure.

It’s a think black vertical line from one end of nail to cuticle. No Hutchinson’s sign.

I can’t find anything on Google to suggest probable causes for this other than cancer. Apparently moles can present in a similar way, but again not in white people.

I’m currently emailing his secretary to see if I could be offered a private appointment and get it done sooner. I have googled the Consultant and he also works for Bupa. I would pay any amount of money to know what I’m dealing with.

It is the waiting that is the worst part. I just got a letter telling me that the earliest possible appointment had been made for me at the melanoma clinic after my biopsy. So clearly melanoma, but no indication of what stage. The hospital said it was “not their policy to put the diagnosis in a letter, but to tell people face to face.” They wouldn’t budge on this, despite my tearful phone calls, until I finally got a nurse to tell me, “against hospital policy.” The relief that it was stage 1 was huge, as my uncle’s was diagnosed too late for them to do much about it.

@Froomp I've had a dodgy mole removed - the way it was described it had started to behave like an early melanoma, ie the cells had started to behave in an abnormal way but it wasn't a melanoma at that stage . I had the biopsy done on the day of my clinic appointment. I had to then go back to have clear margains (lots of remaining surrounding tissue removed). I'm surprised they didn't do the biopsy on the day of your appointment, maybe you can try and find someone to do that privately? So you don't have to wait so long for the results? In my case I got the biopsy results within two weeks of the biopsy. This must be a worrying time for you I know how hard the waiting is, it's the not knowing that drives you crazy.

OP my DW had exactly the same last year, except on her thumb nail. Thick black vertical line from cuticle to end of nail. Dermatologist ruled out all other possible causes (trauma etc) so we knew before the biopsy it was either a new mole or a subgungal melanoma.

Despite it being a black line not brown, and her being white (very fair skinned) the biopsy results were that it was a new benign mole. So that does happen, even in fair skinned people.

There's no way to get any answers before the biopsy, but it's not a certainty that it's Melanoma at all. I read a lot about it while we were waiting for the biopsy, and even though the statistics for this type of melanoma are scary, the research suggests that it's because these are far more rare than the classic MM symptoms of a mole on the skin that changes. Most people assume them to be bruising, or don't know they're a sign of possible cancer, so the average time to get them checked out is 3 years. So please don't fret about the statistics.

Thank you MagHenTa that’s a really helpful post that had given me some hope and calmed me down a little. I didn’t realise that white people could ever get a mole under the nail.

I am struggling with the anxiety of waiting for answers the most. I came home from work and cried tonight.

I don’t know why they didn’t biopsy it at the time. I wish he had!

I thought I read that most people who get skin cancers are old... like age 70+ old.

I know that it's an incredibly anxious time and I sympathise. I was quite surprised at how much time there is between stages; after the biopsy you'll wait for results, and then if you were to need further surgery to remove it entirely you'll wait for that.

DW asked at her multidisciplinary meeting why they couldn't just remove the whole thing at the time of biopsy, that way even if it is of concern it's already been removed rather than waiting for results and then further surgery. The surgeon said they don't usually do this because of the margins that need to be taken out around it; there's no point taking out a larger part of the nail bed than necessary if it turns out to be benign. DW decided she would rather have potential damage to the nail bed and have it all out at once than wait for potential second surgery.

They couldn't promise they would be able to do that (they won't know how deep it is until the biopsy) but as it happened they were able to remove it all. Worth asking for, if that would make the wait after the biopsy slightly less anxiety inducing for you.

My DF had several moles removed the other week and was fully expecting a call to say it was all nothing. He kept wittering about how they remove anything nowadays and it’s all just belt and braces.

But he’s been called in to see the consultant about the results; his appointment is on Thursday. I’m trying not to think about it because I lost my Mum to cancer (not skin) and I just can’t face the reality of this again.

So all the positive stories are helping me too, as well as the info about stages and stuff because I daren't google. Good luck, op.

I’m going to the derm today (Australia, so it’s morning here) to have a full skin check. I had my first barnacle (mole with changed cells) removed earlier this year. I was feeling very bitter about it because I’m very sun-conscious (Hats, sunscreen every day, sunglasses) and then remembered that I was little in the 70’s and that I had some terrible sunburns as a kid while my parents were blasting themselves in coconut oil and chain smoking on the beach.

lljkk - my DH is in his mid 50s with two instances of malignant melanoma so far. The waiting is the worst time, and also the length of time between biopsy and then further surgery and lymph node biopsy. DH needed a plastic surgery team, which made it longer, I think. There was a four week wait, I think, because of staff shortages.

I thought I read that most people who get skin cancers are old... like age 70+ old.

This tends to be true for basal cell carcinoma which is the mildest form of skin cancer. Melanomas however can often be seen in young people. The most common cause is sun exposure and the incidence has risen considerably over the years with the advent of holidays abroad. Most of my melanoma patients have been under 50. I am horrified when I hear of people still using sunbeds and can’t understand why they would risk their lives for the sake of a tan.

Sadly I know quite a few people my age and younger who have had melanoma (I'm 40). I've lost two friends to melanoma in the last few years - both were under 50. Neither of them used sun beds or were sun worshippers. Everyone should be vigilant and get new lesion or lesion that has changed checked out asap. And sunblock with good SPF all the way!

OP, I’ve been in your shoes.

I KNEW I had a melanoma. I knew I was going to die. I’d had a BCC before and knew this one was different and had to be a melanoma.

I couldn’t wait for two weeks for a biopsy so booked in privately and saw a consultant (head dermatologist for the region) within 48 hours of seeing the GP.

Consultant wanted full removal ASAP so had it removed the next day. He said it looked like a SCC.

Turns out... it was nothing. It was something completely benign that the consultant had never seen before!

The main point is THE MAJORITY OF MARKS ARE NOT CANCEROUS. You would have to be very unlucky.

It’s impossible not to worry but chances are you are absolutely fine!

Princess, have you read the thread?

Neither of them used sun beds or were sun worshippers.

Sadly, you don’t have to be either to get a melanoma.

@daisypond, have you read the thread?

DH has just been back to hospital and they’re going to biopsy again, sadly, for the third time. Two positive separate findings for melanoma in six months and now possibly a third. This all started in March.

I had my skin check yesterday and learned a couple of things about skin cancers... firstly, there is a genetic predisposition to some forms of melanoma that unfortunately runs in my family. (Ocular, nailbed .... you need to get your eyes checked for melanomas if you have them under nails, according to my derm. They are in the same family of melanoma.) Also invest in good-quality sunglasses with as much physical protection and very high spf.
The other thing I learned was that while sunscreens are definitely proven to protect against melanoma, there is no evidence that they prevent basal cell carcinoma. Hats, spf shirts and umbrellas, I think!!! I’m going to faff around like a Victorian lady with a parasol! Aussie hot weather kicking in already.

I’m sorry so many other people are going through investigations and biopsies. It’s a scary time. I’m trying to remind myself that whatever happens happens and there isn’t anything I can do to change it so there is no point worrying about it. That’s having varying levels of success!

I’ve been very tearful today about DH. No idea how long he’s had it. On his scalp under his hair. I only noticed because the wind blew his hair and I happened to be standing above him. It’s about an inch big. And I feel angry as well. Surely the hospital should check people all over if you’ve had melanoma not once but twice before? One of the others was on his scalp too.