Third Melanoma Removed

As if I need more hospital visits right now, it turns out I have a new skin cancer tumor. Though it’s actually good news because it could have been worse if I ignored the issue, it just reminds me that oh yeah this cancer thing isn’t going away.

Luckily the mole that was removed at the start of the month is a “Melanoma In-Situ”, which means we caught it while the cancer was still in the upper layers of skin. In fact it grew less than 1mm into my skin, so this is very good news. Leaving it there would have meant it going deeper and entering my lymph system which connects to vital organs.

Having it out at less than 1mm means that unlike my other primary melanomas, this one poses very little risk of spreading and carries a virtually 100% survivable prognosis. By 4mm deep the tumor can potentially have spread all over the body. So get those moles checked!

“This means that unlike my other tumors, this one poses very little risk of spreading and carries a virtually 100% survivable prognosis”

However I was told that it could be another mole in a line of moles that could become cancerous in the future, but not show the typical signs of melanoma and get diagnosed late. This could be due to a mutation in my genes that leads to “undercover cancer” developing, unbeknown to anyone. In theory it could be very easy to pass potential cancer off as normal skin lesions. So in a way I did very well here to catch my third primary tumor early.

In other words, I’m at high risk of new primaries and it’s not how it looks today, but more about the history of how the mole has changed over the course of my monthly skin checks. In other words, I can’t forget about this cancer just because I’m in remission. It’ll sneak up and bamm, back to the cutting room!

“My cancer hasn’t ‘come back’, I have a new separate cancer site, I’ve now had three primary tumors. A primary tumor is good news for me, a secondary tumor could always mean my cancer gets terminal”

The Tumor Grew Under My Socks
Not many people know what skin cancer is and it’s a shock to many to learn it’s a result of the body’s UV defenses turning against itself. I guess you’d be shocked to learn too that this kind of skin cancer isn’t really about the sun (a fact I was trying to get Cancer Research UK to see and focus on skin signs not sunscreen). In fact nothing about melanoma is intuitive or easy to understand, this tumor grew underneath my socks. I always wear socks and that area of skin would hardly get sun exposure.

Being MoleAware Works!
What’s vitally important in the melanoma story is early diagnosis and a melanoma in-situ is the best phase of the disease you can hope to get. I’m actually over the moon that this tumor is a stage zero Cancer and the more stage zero skin cancers we can get, the better we’ll do to reduce deaths from melanoma. The less stage three and four cancers I get, the better my chances of living to tell you guys all about skin cancer.

“It’s so easy to learn what the signs of skin cancer are, just google ABC of Melanoma and you’ve got yourself a better defence against skin cancer than sunscreen”

The next stage of this unfortunate ambush by my cancer is to go back in to get more skin removed, to make sure we’ve got all the cancer cells.

Auto Immune Conditions
My theory is that my immune system is either hyperactive or is just crap. Why? Because Narcolepsy and Thyroiditus are auto-immune conditions and if I’m getting tumors in places where the sun don’t shine, the pigment producing cells that normally would protect me against skin cancer might themselves be giving me skin cancer. Melanoma could have an auto-immune component to it, so there’s a picture forming here.

I may have to wait another month to get the rest of the cancer cells removed and I guess I need to focus on a possible court case with the DWP over Narcolepsy. It really sucks, but I better get on with it.

Plate …… full !