General Chat

.... b*gger. Had one of the shortest, but most possibly one of the devastating, medical consultations yesterday.

It lasted less than five minutes and the diagnosis was almost immediate, Melanoma.

I've had a discoloured patch of skin just under my left eye for some time, and yesterday at my six monthly diabetes review I mentioned it to my GP who referred me to another Dr in the surgery group who only deals with skin cancers.

Back today to have a biopsy done to determine the actual type, and how far it has spread so that, hopefully, it can be removed.

Ironically, I spent my birthday (17th March) up in Perth attending a funeral of a nephew, with all of the attendant gallows humour associated with such events (well by my family).

Talk about Karma!

Hope it has not spread and that it can be removed safely.

Thanks, Ann.

I'll know a bit more after the biopsy.

The annoying thing is that I see my GP every six months and he has never mentioned or commented on the skin patch until I mentioned it yesterday.

What makes it worse is that I DID mention it to another GP a couple of years ago who merely looked at it and said to keep an eye on it.

I hope all will be well Allan.

Hope all is well for you Allan. <3 A belated happy birthday wish to you

Thanks, Gwyn and LaGooner

I know how you feel Alan, I have been plagued by BCCs cropping up for rhe last 20 years. In fact have an op next week to remove three, last one removed last November. so far all 20+ have been benign but there is always the 'worry'.

Thinking of you Allan <3. Hopefully you will get some good news from the biopsy <3

Hope it's good news Allan <3 <3

Thank you all :-)

Had part of it removed yesterday but the other part is so close to my eye that I may probably need to to see (no pun intended!) an Eye Surgeon.

Not looked in the mirror yet today, but expect that when I do I will have a black eye; not a pretty sight, but then I never really have been :-D

Now just waiting for a biopsy to be done on the material removed to find out what stage it is at.

Watch this space!

Hope results are good and that you don’t have to wait as long as we do for results

So sorry to hear your news Allan,

Wishing you a positive outcome from the biopsy and hope the result is quick.

Florence in the hebrides

Crossing fingers for a good result, Allan.

It's good that they've acted so quickly to deal with it.

Thanks, ArgyllGran and Florence.

ArgyllGran, yes, it is good that I didn't have to hang around, but that is also the worrying part. The doctor who did the procedure yesterday is not a surgeon, but she does specialise in skin cancer and works in the skin clinic attached to our local GP's surgery.

It's amazing that not too many years ago there were only about ten GP's servicing the entire Eaton/ Australind area where I live. Now there are well over a hundred.

Mind you, the area has also grown exponentially.

Dear Allan

Hello

I am very sorry to hear about your health matter.

Sending caring thoughts to you and your family. <3

Take very gentle care of yourself
Very best wishes,
EOS, from London
xx

Thank you all for your good wishes.

The results are back and are much better than I was expecting. Yes it is a melanoma but it is not invasive.

It will still have to be removed and whether that can be done locally or whether I have to go to Perth remains to be seen. The local surgeon is no longer doing this type of procedure. Ther is a surgeon who visits Bunbury once a week from Perth and I have been given a referral to see him.

I'm also booked in for a whole-body visual scan just to make sure that there are no further 'nasties' lurking about

What excellent news, Allan, that it's not invasive!

I hope the rest of the treatment goes well - I'm sure it will, if our good wishes have anything to do with it!

Thank you, ArgyllGran :-)

Great news Allan . That is a great load off of your mind I am sure. :-)

It sure is LG, although I'm at that age that if it's not one thing, it could be another :-)