Skin cancer?

On friday my mom was diagnosed with skin cancer. she had gotten some moles removed, the docter saw one that looked bad, they sent it to the lab and it was melagnoma(spelling?). the worst of the two skin cancers you can get. she is going in on wednesday to get a junk of tissue/skin taken where the mole was removed and test that for cancer.


Has anyone had this skin cancer?


i know the other cancers that could come out of this because of the cells that could move through the blood stream and go to other parts of the body.


i want to learn more about it, i went to my school library but they didn't have anything.


can anyone tell me about their own experiences, or nurses/doctors explain to me more about skin cancer?


thank you

Skin cancer?
There are actually 3 types of skin cancer: basal cell - the most common and easiest to treat; squamous cell - more serious, easy to treat when caught early but has the potential to metastasize (spread); and malignant melanoma.





When a melanoma is caught early, it can be easily treated with excision. The doctor will cut out the area around where the mole was located to look at the "margins" - the skin around the cancerous area. The goal is to remove all traces of the melanoma while it is still located in the skin and before it spreads.





If it has gone deeper, the doctor may need to send your mom to a plastic surgeon or another type of surgeon to remove additional tissue or even lymph nodes. Again, if caught early enough, melanoma is highly treatable and a full recovery is expected. In the worst case, the cancer will need to be treated with chemotherapy.





Anyone who has had ONE melanoma must be very diligent in having their skin checked regularly for any new cancers - so your mom needs to make sure she has her regular checkups.





I'm glad she saw a doc and had her skin checked out. Hopefully it will be a very shallow tumor and there will not be any spread of the cancerous cells.
Reply:Melanoma.com
Reply:My mom had this on her nose...Dr's did treatments..took a while to heal but she turned out fine....Go to Mayo Clinic.Com great information for you and your mom and best of luck