Do you know anyone who has had...

[LenaGardner]

melanoma? Or have you? A good online friend of mine was diagnosed with melanoma today. :( She had a mole removed and of course we all expected it would be benign but it is not. She will be having more removed and biopsied tomorrow, and she will be seeing an oncologist and a surgeon.

She is young (maybe 30?), very healthy...doesn't smoke or drink, is a runner, and has 3 beautiful children. A 5 year old boy, a 2 year old boy and a 5 month old girl. If you pray, could you pray for her? Her name is Melissa and she is very scared right now. If you have any advice I'll pass it along for her.

[DawnMarch]

I have had several friends with melanoma, actually. They all had moles/spots removed from their bodies -- sometimes the doctors have had to go back for a bit more skin around the area, but none had anything more serious. I will pray that your friend's is limited like that.

[ditzyscrap]

Two of my grandparents have had it on their nose/ears...they've both had it removed and while other places it did pop up again, they would be removed, etc. My grandpa passed away a couple years ago, but it was nothing to do with melanoma.

[iJenny]

my aunt has had melanoma. She was a sun goddess in her early years (tanning on aluminum foil covered in baby oil) back in the 60s-70s. She's had several spots removed from her nose and lip and everything so far is ok. Its still very scary, though. I avoid the sun at all costs.

[Libby Pritchett]

My dad had a spot on his face and chest removed years ago but hasn't had any more trouble with it at all. :)

[MandaBean]

My best friend is a 2 time melanoma survivor. She will be 30 in November, and her first instance was when she was 21. She had a mole removed from her neck, and they had to basically cut all her lymph nodes out in that area leaving a very gnarly scar. They told her that it was the worst stage she could have..I don't recall atm, but it's the kind that will almost always come back. Three years ago, she had another spot come up..this time in one of her lungs. They had to remove a piece of her lung through her back to get rid of it.

She has been on experimental drugs, and is healthy right now. She is an athlete..a great one, and is super active. She doesn't smoke..never has. She used to do the tanning bed thing, but never religiously. It's just one of those really scary things that happen, and I read the other day that it's happening alot more in young women.

I hope everything works out with your friend Lena. Just let her know that having a positive attitude and pushing on does help. :)

[kscwgirl]

no experience with it, but best of luck to your friend!!!!!

[rochelle789]

A really good friend of mine just had melanoma a few months ago (she's 34). She had a funky looking mole on her stomach (no sun exposure there, so it's weird). Her doctor removed it and sent it for biopsy and it came back as the earliest stage melanoma. She also had some of the surrounding tissue removed and biopsied and that all came back normal. So there was no treatment or anything, just the mole and skin removal done by her family practice doctor during a routine office visit.

She was scared, but we joked that if we were going to get cancer, we'd like it to be what she had. It ended up not being a big deal at all.

Lots of positive thoughts for your friend though. I'd imagine she's scared. Hugs!!

[scrapmonkey]

My ex-boyfriend had it several times around his nose bridge. Each time he had a chunk of his skin taken off there and he looked like a raccoon from the bruising. He got it simply from wearing reflective sunglasses. He had no treatments after, just constant checkups. I think melanoma if caught in the early stages is one of the easier cancers to treat. Still cancer is always scary stuff.
Prayers and luck to your friend...

[my3hens]

I have no experience here but I will certainly be praying! I have a ton of moles that should honestly be checked out but im terrified!