Posts: 356
Threads: 15
Joined: Jun 2016
I too had a melanoma removed a few years back - and the prognosis is really at two extremes: if it is caught early and removed at the surface location, long-term life expectancy is unimpacted. However, if it has spread by the time of detection, it is a very hard cancer to beat. To check for spread, they take extra tissue around the tumor (thus the big scar) as well as the lymph node(s) that is associated with the part of the body where the melanoma was found, and they analyze them for evidence of cancer. If the pathology comes back clear you are cancer free and can look forward to seeing your dermatologist regularly for a visual scan and the occasional biopsy (in my case, this is annual and takes no more than 10 minutes because I have relatively few moles). Tanner is lucky his mom noticed the change, and took action. Early detection saves lives, and Tanner is living the slip, slap, slop lifestyle: slip on a shirt, slap on a hat and slop on the sunscreen.