More on Melanoma

Well, having been diagnosed with melanoma last week, this was a good headline to wake up to:

Survival rate with melanoma has improved

Reuters reported the results of a study by German researchers who found that the overall survival of people diagnosed with melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer, had improved over the past 25 years or so.

Having done a bit more reading since talking to my dermatologist on the phone, I think my melanoma must be stage I, because it was so thin, about 0.2 millimeters, if my recall of what the doctor said is accurate. So that's good news.

I'll be back in to see my dermatologist on Thursday this week, so I'll get a chance to have my questions answered then. And he will be re-excising the melanoma, to get clean margins.

Several people responded to my first post about the melanoma diagnosis Lightning Strikes Twice with some helpful information and good wishes.

This reminds me, yet again, why I write a cancer blog. Other people who are living with cancer, or whose lives have been touched by cancer, know how to respond. With support and information. Not pity. Not unsolicited advice.

Katrina gave me the link to the Melanoma Patients' Information Page and also a reminder that May is Melanoma Awareness Month--time for a skin check, everyone.

And Brian posted a comment that includes the ABCDs, and now Es, for checking moles:
A for asymmetric lesions
B for moles with irregular borders
C for colors in the lesion, and
D for diameter greater than the tip of an eraser.

"More recently physicians have recognized the importance of moles that are new or getting larger in predicting high risk lesions," he writes. "They have now added E for enlargement to the criteria and many recommend following the ABCDE’s."

He also suggests documenting your moles, to better watch for changes, and says that you can do this at home with a digital camera and software developed with funding provided by the National Cancer Institute. It can be obtained by going to the Web site http://www.dermalert.com.

Thanks, everyone.

@ Jeanne Sather 2007.