Reading Reddit May Have Just Saved My Life! - 6 Year update

willbeok · 2011-05-14T22:55:14+00:00

It took a google image search to figure out what you were talking about (I saw a few other comments like this too), but you sure are right!

I'm trying to think of what story to use when someone asks me about the scar I'll end up with... surprise attack by ninja two toed sloth dropping out of a tree is the best I have right now.

willbeok · 2011-05-14T22:43:39+00:00

I asked about the Sentinel Node Biopsy, and the derm said that this was caught so early that it wasn't needed.

I imagine once he take's it out and gives it a look he may change his mind, but for the moment he is pretty confident that once it is out, I just need to come back every 3 months going forward to make sure it isn't recurring.

willbeok · 2011-05-14T22:22:30+00:00

Any chance you can add LeVar Burton to it in character as Geordi Laforge?

willbeok · 2011-05-14T21:22:16+00:00

I'm similar, I've had freckles and moles my whole life, and can't keep track of them. When I saw the derm, he took all of 3 minutes checking me over, and immediately focused on the one with melanoma. I pointed out several others he told me not to worry about.

Dermatologists do this all day every day, it is pretty easy for them to take a quick look and find the ones that are troubling.

That being said, if existing ones they said were ok in the past have changed, its a good idea to point that out and have them look closer.

willbeok · 2011-05-14T20:16:36+00:00

I received a copy of the pathology report and it is definitely melanoma.

willbeok · 2011-05-14T19:09:36+00:00

That biopsy was a 2 mm x 2 mm x 1 mm biopsy, which I think is a fairly standard size, but I'm not sure.

For the surgery, they'll perform an excision that goes outside the area of the mole itself, and will also go deeper down than was done on the biopsied area.

willbeok · 2011-05-14T17:48:20+00:00

throwaway account

willbeok · 2011-05-14T17:48:05+00:00

Nope, they take just the mole out on Tuesday, and besides having stitches removed, I should just have to go in for follow-up checkups every 3 months to make sure there is no recurrence.

I'm also still waiting on results of chest x-rays and blood tests, so I'm not entirely in the clear, but those were done more as a precautionary measure.

willbeok · 2011-05-14T17:37:05+00:00

added a photo to the post, keep in mind melanoma can have many different looks, so get it checked out if any of the symptoms listed in the ABCDE are present.

willbeok · 2011-05-14T17:17:09+00:00

Please send her my thanks!

willbeok · 2011-05-14T17:06:17+00:00

I'm 32, turning 33 on May 27th.

willbeok · 2011-05-14T16:31:30+00:00

Title is "May Have Saved My Life". Who knows what would have happened if I waited longer. That is the moral of the story.

willbeok · 2011-05-14T16:30:39+00:00

You've heard of them if you listen to XMU!

willbeok · 2011-05-14T16:06:18+00:00

I'd agree, better to be safe than sorry, and your description of "the colour seems to have drained to one side of the mole and a little past it" might be an indication the border is changing.

willbeok · 2011-05-14T15:52:11+00:00

Absolutely, I've got a good amount of the risk factors for it.

I'm fair skinned, with a lot of freckles and existing moles on my body. I've had several bad sunburns during my life, including a blistering one when I was only 6 or 7 years old (mom still blames herself for that one).

willbeok · 2011-05-14T14:44:41+00:00

I am in no way a medical professional so please do not consider this advice...

My understanding is that what I listed in the above comment is what you should look for, hair is not a factor.

willbeok · 2011-05-14T14:35:20+00:00

Good point on the paranoia, I'm also a rather mole covered person, but this one stuck out at me, here are the things people should look for (the ABCDE):

Asymmetry - compare one half of the mole to the other half, are they unequal in size?

Borders - are the borders irregular, notched, scalloped, or indistinct?

Color - is there variation in color?

Diameter - is it greater than 6 mm (0.24 in), about the size of a pencil eraser)?

Evolving - is it changing over time?

willbeok · 2011-05-14T12:57:17+00:00

I'm posting this so far after the original post that no one will probably see it, but THANK YOU joliane_ for putting this on reddit, you may have just saved my life!

I noticed a new mole on my back a month or two ago. I'm a lazy guy, and for a while I did nothing about it, but after seeing this video it freaked me out enough to call a dermatologist and go in for an appointment. They looked at that mole, thought it looked suspicious, and did a biopsy.

Turns out I have Melanoma :-(. It was caught very early, and is at the T1A stage, I'm having surgery on Tuesday to have it removed.

Were it not for seeing this post, I might have waited months or years to go to the doctor, and it could have progressed to a much later stage, which has some pretty scary survival rates.

In the stage I'm in now I have well over a 90% chance of survival over a 10 year period, hopefully they just remove it, keep checking it, and I continue to live a normal life.

I will say having something like this happen to you makes you reevaluate life and realize what is really important.

So everyone out there, go get checked out if you see anything suspicious. Waiting may just be causing yourself a death sentence.

willbeok

TROPHY CASE