Melanoma
A number of weeks after receiving first two Covid vaccine a mole emerged on top right arm. Kept an eye on its development a number of months later got a private appointment with a dermatologist . Got it taken out and it was determined to be Stage 1a melanoma and two months after that got appointment for wider excision and told got everything.
Follow up is with dermatologist every 3/4 months and he is checking lymph nodes - no ultrascans suggested - it fact just this.
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Question: I keep hearing about a protocol care pathway for melanoma cancer which is the same for public and private patients but no one can give me documents or information has given me any information . I am reading all sorts of research documents on links with Covid vaccine on the internet and now getting very concerned .
has this come up in this forum before
Comments
I had stage 2b Melanoma in 2018 with wide excision and regular skin checks as follow up. I had a brain scan Dec 2021 I also had 2nd shot in Dec 2021. I started to feel unwell not long into 22. I didnt go to the hospital when i felt unwell and colapsed because of ptsd from hospital time for another illness and I didnt want to be admitted again or do A&E when i was feeling unwell, unexpectedly when i had a siezure in november i was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma in my brain stage 4 with up to 40 tumers in my brain and they cant understand how it happened with no source and so fast considering i was clear in december. from january to june i lost 45lb weight without trying and with an ankle i struggled to walk on and i hadnt changed my diet. i also developed an extreme level of endometriosis flare up. in june I caught covid and within a week i was hospitalised again with endometriosis and a huge 20cm diameter fibroid in my uterus and spine pain, they did an mri to check for melanoma in my spine but it came back clear. then i started to have seizures and headaches and eventually i was blind in 1 eye and my right leg was paralised one night and had a siezure and i agreed it was time for an ambulance. 2am i was told it was stage 4 and i started treatment at 3am. Im openminded to the possibility that it might intensify any weakness already in the body.
Hi Stage1apath,
I am very sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I had a stage 2b diagnosis 4 1/2 years ago. It sounds as if the treatment and follow up regime you have is exactly the standard treatment for a 1a diagnosis. The staging is determined based on the thickness of the lesion as well as other criteria. The thickness in particular indicates if there was a likely spread to the lymph nodes or not. A very thick lesion will have spread into the lower layers of the skin. A thin lesion (such as you must have for a 1a diagnosis) has not penetrated the deep levels of the skin and is far less likely to have found a means of spreading.
I have not seen any documented connection whatsoever between the Covid vaccine and melanoma. I have not seen your question come up on the MacMillan site either (https://community.macmillan.org.uk/cancer_types/melanoma-forum) where there is a larger group of patients than here and very regular exchanges between melanoma patients.
I hope you got good advice about taking care in the sun. That and regular checks of your skin are the most important things you can do to avoid recurrence. Don't let this prevent you from protecting yourself from Covid!
Take care
Kath