Skin Cancer :: Merkel Cell Carcinoma Diagnoses
Jul 6, 2013
My husband was just diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer of the skin called Merkel Cell Carcinoma on his forehead. It was seen previously by our family physician who thought it was just a cyst.
He has received a wide excision of the tumour, but they did not do a SLNB ( sentinel lymph node biopsy).
Though we've been told the borders are clear, from all the research we have been reading, a lymph node biopsy is recommended for accurate staging of the disease and better survival. We are currently awaiting an appointment with an oncologist at Juravinski Cancer Centre in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
We'd love to hear from anyone with information regarding Canadian expertise in this area and failing that, any info. or recommendations to clinics known for their knowledge in treating this. There are many doctors who just don't know anything about it and we are searching for the doctor with experience treating MCC. We are already behind because the plastic surgeon didn't automatically forward the initial biopsy report to our family physician and we went back to the office to request a follow-up with the Cancer Clinic. In the meantime, we hope we will hear soon from Juravinski, since we'd like to get going if he's to do that biopsy and any radiation follow-up treatment.
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Definitely have the Mohs procedure done and not radiation on the face. I had it just done, they had to cut the size of a nickel out, and did a skin graft over. But it's gone, and over. I am healing now.
New to the forum..and quite frankly this is all still a bit surreal to me. I was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma on my face above my lip. I never knew it was cancer and initially, when it first appeared on my face (when I was 18!), I thought it was a huge pimple. Eventually it healed into a flesh toned bump and it looked like a raised flesh colored mole, about 0.3 cm in its largest surface dimension.
This whole time I thought it was a poorly healed acne spot and now that I am 24, I decided to go see a dermatologist to have this removed (for cosmetic reasons). He ended up sending it to get biopsied to be safe and it ended up being cancer!
Now, I'm torn between doing Mohs or proceeding with radiation. Since it was in my face for 6 years, I'm afraid maybe the root grew deeper into my skin and they would have to cut out more tissue. All the Google images of post Mohs surgeries look so scary and I'm beginning to feel a bit traumatized that I'll have to go through this on my face.
Can anyone weigh in on how their Mohs surgery/scar healed? If they were to cut out a dime-sized area on your face, would they stitch you up after or would they leave it as an open wound and let it heal that way? What are the implications of how they close the surgery on the scar you are left with afterward? How many days/weeks do you have to wait for the open wound to start looking like a healing scar?
Because of this, I almost want to proceed with radiation so that I don't have to deal with waiting weeks for the scar to heal (I work full time in an office and enjoy going out to hang out in my leisure time, I would not want to be out if I had an open wound healing on my face). I like that it's less invasive and I know that they won't be cutting out a huge part of my face. What worries me about Mohs is that I won't know how big of a chunk they'll be taking off my face. I know Mohs is the gold standard for removing all of the cancer, but radiation treatments can have up to 95%-98% cure rate. IF my basal cell were to recur after proceeding with radiation treatments, would it recur in the same place or would it pop up somewhere else on my face? How does recurrence usually work with basal cell carcinoma?
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Just diagnosed, surgery this coming week. Anyone have experience with this? Don't feel confident in doctors, have lots of questions.
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I have recently undergone 12 weeks of trauma, including 4 operations under general anaesthetic for a basal cell carcinoma on the side of my nose. It is a legacy from one I had removed 10 years ago, which wasn't totally removed. I went to my GP last year about this lump and she said it was just scar tissue. In February I felt uneasy about this and went back and she referred me to the Maxillofacial Department at our local hospital. I saw the Consultant on 12th May, 5 days after I buried my Dad and my feet never hit the ground until my final op. on 27th July. I had a paramedian skin flap op. where they take a vein from your forehead attached to the skin graft and attach it to your nose for 5 weeks then snip the bit outside and and put the vein back in with a couple of stitches. I am still in a bit of shock at the speed this was all done and I was wondering if anyone out there has had this done this way.
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I have two options: Ellipse Excision (most invasive) and Curettage and Electrodesiccation (least invasive). Derm says with C and D she is not able to tell me if after the surgery all basal cell carcinoma are removed as there is no pathology testing. I'm nervous thinking about what I want the most. Has anyone on the Cancer board had either of these two surgeries. If so, which one was most successful?
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In 2013 I was diagnosed with N.E.T. malignant of the ilium where small intestine meet large intestine. They found it during a colonoscopy, when they did the surgery to remove they found one more tumor in the appendix. The tumor in the intestine was 3 cm and the one the the appendix was 1 cm. The one in the intestine went through the wall so they took lymph nodes 12 found only 11 - 1+ , so they said they needed to keep an eye on me for 2 years. These are they results of my chromogranin test which don't make sense to me???
Close to surgery date when I had 2 positive tumors
Chromogranin A
9/13 53. <93
2/14. 97. <93
4/14. 76. <93
7/14. 60. <93
7/15. 92. <93
With the 7/15 test they found 3 enlarged lymph nodes around the surgery area during the C.A.T. scan but very slightly enlarged like 2 mm enlarged each not enough for him to worry. But he's going to retest in January, he said it might be just an infection around the surgical site. But he did a full blood work up and my count wasn't up.
During the 2 years since the surgery I have had extreme pain in the surgical site and in another site in there they've done all external testing they can but when I suggested a colonoscopy to view the surgical site they said my Oncologist said one was not needed to view tumors.
I asked my primary care doctor to speak to the gastrointestinal doctor and they refused to do the test. So I went outside the hospital that did my surgery they refused to do the test saying go back to the place you had your previous test done. So how do I know if this is from the surgical site or the lymph nodes since when I actually had to malignant tumor's my levels were within normal range?
If you need to know more please ask . At this point I'm having a very hard time trusting my physician care.
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A few months back my Dr was checking my thyroid - said it felt soft - sent me for blood tests (MANY hypothyroid symptoms!) (which were ok - TSH only 1.1) and an ultrasound which showed a small 8x7x7mm hypoechoic mass lesion on the lower left lobe of my thyroid. I had a FNA biopsy two weeks ago, today actually, and already found out last Friday that 2 of the 3 pathologists said they can't say what it isn't but to remove it asap and the 3rd said absolutely consistent with papillary carcinoma and to remove it asap as well... so now I am just waiting to have it removed. My Dr absolutely agrees and said get it out! He said depending how bad it is they will decide whether they just remove the mass but will possibly remove the whole thyroid... do they end up doing two surgeries or do they get in there and see its worse then they thought and make the decision right then and there? He explained it is THE cancer to have - although no one wants any cancer... that it is very treatable etc. I'm just stressed and wondering about the whole thing. Is it normal to have normal thyroid levels but have PC?
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I am writing to see if anyone has any ideas for my father in law in Japan. He is in the hospital and the oncologists, and disease specialists cannot diagnose his condition. He has had a fever for over a month, diminishing strength, trouble breathing, and inflamed lymph nodes and spleen. It is my understanding that he has a low white blood cell count as well.
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On my right breast, I have a red skin bump. This bump is not in my breast tissue, just in my skin. It at first, looked like an ingrown hair, so I left it alone. But it's been a few months, and its still not gone and looks worse. It is red and round/oval shaped. If I squeeze it a yellowish puss will come out and maybe bleed. I have done exams on myself and never feel any lumps inside my breast. I"m really scared! I don't know what a cyst looks like and have never had one before.
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Hi guys, I have scheduled a visit with a doctor, but in the meantime i would like to know your opinion on those pictures if those spots are possible to be melanoma ? thanks
http://*******.org/image/w7tkb0ze3/
http://*******.org/image/973xrh8dt/
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I wonder if biopsy and blood are reliable when someone is already on medication.
my dermatologist is convinced I have lupus, but I am already on medication for rosacea (his Son also dermatologist treated me at first). I take tetracycline and have ivermectin and metronidazole creams. The dermatologist took blood for ana and something else. He also wants to do a skin biopsy but my skin is a lot better since I am on the medicine...except for the extreme redness on cheekbones, nose and chin. (I also have raynaud and some other problems)
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A few years ago I noticed 3 relatively small moles on my pubic area and didn't think much of it. But it grew much bigger and there are another 2 new moles in that area. I'm worried that it could be melanoma as the size is rather big and it's black but I'm too embarrassed to go to a doctor because the mole is at my inner vagina lip while the other 4 are beside the anus. I'm so worried, please can any doctor here help to see if this seem like melanoma, from the pictures attached?
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I've got a small mole in my head. when I wash my hair, I always scratch it and sometimes it bleeds. I read the acticle about melanoma. Should I visit oncologist or everything is ok with me?
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Awaiting biopsy results, trying not to go crazy. Probably shouldn't be on the Internet.
I've had these spreading brown spots, about 1cm diameter on my lower belly. Several months ago, a crusty little tower rose up out of one of them, which itched and bled. I went to my dr, and he set up referral to derm. But then the crusty little tower turned into a smooth brown bump on one side of the spread-flat-mile. I figured I'd over-reacted, and cancelled the derm appt.
Next time I saw dr, he said I still need to see derm, so I reluctantly called derm and they were booking 3-4 months out. But, they had a cancellation in 2 days! I took it, but then forgot about it. Called to apologize, and lo, they had another cancellation in another 2 days! That time I didn't forget! My daughter said, mom, God must really want you to see the dermatologist. Maybe she was right.
At the appt, he ended up doing a full-body scan, to my relief, because I have many moles and can't see them all. He wants to remove the one I went in about, but he was really alarmed by a mole on my inner thigh that was completely off my radar. It was a dark brown dome, smaller than pencil eraser. He asked a lot of questions about it, and was able to get me back in for its removal last Friday. He said, I don't like the look of this at all! He said he was so glad to remove it. Now I wish I'd taken a picture of it!
My next appt is two weeks from last, where he'll remove stitches and the original mole of concern - which he said was often the case where a different mole at least brought you in, but wasn't the real bad one.
I don't think he was trying to scare me, and I'm not scared. I just want to know already. It's hard to take cancer seriously, in the form of a little mole.
On the other hand, I've been feeling really tired the past year, and especially lately. So now my mind says what if it's NM and in lymph nodes. But I haven't read anything to back that up.
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About 6 months ago It 'appeared as a dark line on my right thumb.
I went to the dermatologist and he told me that when in doubt I'll have to 'do a biopsy. between 45 days. It's not 'too much time to wait in your opinion?
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I am 28 years old. I was using lemon juice on my face for fair and toned skin and it proved quite effective but my beard and mustache started turning white. Someone told me to use tomato juice or potato juice instead of lemon juice to avoid white hairs. my question is that will tomato juice or potato juice will be helpful to get a fair and toned skin without turning my hair white.
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About a year ago I noticed raised areas, like blisters under skin on the Palms of my hands(red), some pin head size others small nail head size some of the larger ones form a blister well under the skin...painful to touch. The others ones are just itchy, drive you nuts itchy. A doctor checked on Vasculitis and they think it is that...I seem to think there is a bacterial inflammation in my blood. Has anyone heard of this? I take Zyrtec 1 daily and if I miss two days the bumps come on me with a vengeance. A biopsy was done at the site of a bump and prevalent of Neutrophils. I had a corticosteroid shot for another ailment and it worked miracles on my vasculitis. Does anyone know of other diseases that I should check into. and will a full body pet scan reveal the source of this stuff.
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I Just need to know if this in normal. I burn myself with hot water last week. I blister formed and then busted open. I drained the yellow/ clear fluid and a small scab in a straight line formed where the blister split. The scab got peeled yesterday by mistake and then a good amount of the skin that was burned ( only about 2-4 inches of skin, may be ) peeled off. It left pink skin exposed underneath. It doesn't really hurt at all, it just itches. I put neosporin and a band-aid on it this morning. I want to know if this is normal, if its going to stay pink like that forever, and if its going to scar.
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I have hard, dark skin on my lower back, I think it was due to my bed being broke some long time ago when there was a spring sticking out, it might have been scraping my back, but now it's like over a year that my bed is alright, nothing's really wrong with it, and the skin on the lower back is still dark, I tried TONS of different methods to get rid of it, but couldn't. I tried skin softener kind of cream or something, or wax, I can't remember, but it had something to do with sunflowers or sunflower seeds, it helped me at first, I used to put it on my lower back after every time I went for a shower, but then the dark skin started coming back, and pretty recently (about a month ago) I tried a special tea some people recommend, it helped as well, the dark skin was gone for maybe around a few weeks, and I used to pour the tea over my lower back after having a shower, and I didn't dry my lower back after shower so that my skin could absorb it, and well, the dark skin started coming back again, please someone help me! I've tried a million things! I also tried using sponges and what not to scrub the skin off, which didn't even do anything.
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Since dropping below 5 mg I am having ED problems. I read the prescription details on Viagra and it mentions vision loss. Since I have GCA this is a cause for concern. Does anyone out here have experience with this?
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I'm 19 and 6 months ago I had a SCT. In August 2013 I was diagnosed with ALL(acute lymphoblastic leukemia). During chemo and after SCT I had cycle but it was a bit different. For a few days I have been feeling bad, I am vomiting. Today I found that I am pregnant. What should I do?
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