Melanoma Surgery - Day 214
I’m back, sorry for the looonnng delay in posting, but I’ve been busy (I know lame excuse, but it’s true). Anyway, it’s been almost seven months since I had my melanoma surgery and my scar is still moving along slowly.
The front side of the scar is healing nicely and won’t be noticeable much when the redness goes away. The top and back section of the scar isn’t healing as nicely as the front. They have formed a keloidal scar (raised) and the back section is much wider and more noticeable than the front. My only guess is that the back section had more strain on it than the front side.
I ran out of Mederma and haven’t been applying it for about 3 weeks. I don’t have any pain and I’ve gotten most of the feeling back in my face which is nice. I’ve been following up with my dermatologist every couple of months and I’m going to visit the surgeon that excised my melanoma in Tampa at the end of the month. Let’s see what he says…
March 19th, 2007 at 1:01 am
Hi Mr. Monkey! I used to keep up with you when you were doing the Colonix. I am sooo sorry to hear you had Melanoma! Did you have a suspicious spot when you started doing Colonix? Or do you think some of this “cleansing” you have been doing was perhaps a catalyst for this growth? Hmm…was just thinking about that. I am sure the Colonix people would not be thrilled to hear that a result of their uber cleansing was melanoma. Anyway…hope all is well for you–you are such a funny, nice person (at least online lol) that it is sad to see you have to go through this process. Will keep you in my thoughts.
A
March 21st, 2007 at 12:46 am
Hi,
My boyfriend has melanoma, and I want you to know that I was googling “melanoma” when I came across your blog and it’s been very helpful.
Thank you for putting your experience online. Truly.
I read it and it made me feel better. BTW I think you look great, really. Scars on men’s faces never bothered me that much.
Anyway I though it would be good for my boyfriend to see your website…. I was wrong, he just stormed out all depressed, because he realized it takes so long to heal. Please give me some advise on how to cheer him up, because clearly I have no clue. His melanoma is not to deep, only 0,02mm, but it’s close to the eye and they will have to cut 3X4cm, and the doctor told it could pull his eye.
I love the guy and don’t really care about it, but it’s not my face and he, normally not concerned about his appearance almost at all now is depressed.
How can I help him? If anybody has anything to say about it I aprociate any comments. My email kasita@gmail.com… Please put subject “melanoma”
Thanks
March 28th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
Hi Alaina,
Thanks so much for your thoughts it is greatly appreciated!! I had someone else ask the same question. I would say it had nothing to do with it. It was probably just a coincidence that I was diagnosed with this after my colon cleansing was finished.
Kasia,
I’m sorry to hear that your boyfriend was diagnosed with a melanoma, but I’m glad my experience was of help to you.
I can understand his disappointment because when I was first diagnosed I searched online and came across pictures of what my face would probably look like and I wasn’t happy at all!!
I would say that as time passes he will come to accept what had to be done and understand that even though he will have a scar that the alternative is much worse (death). I read that not too long ago doctors used to take a full 3cm margin around melanomas!! This fact alone should cheer him up a little bit or at least give him some perspective as far as what used to be done and consider himself lucky in this regard.
I don’t know if there is anything you can do or say to him that will make him feel better. My wife tried it on me, but it didn’t do anything. It wasn’t until I accepted it that I overcame the disappointment.
Having a sense of humor and perspective about the situation definitely helped me and I hope that your boyfriend is able to see the situation for what it is and accept it and get on with his life.
I hope all goes well with your boyfriend and my thoughts are with him.
Sincerely,
Monkey
May 18th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
Hey Monkey Boy,
You better get off your ass and start posting stuff, the site is getting a little stagnant. We the fans of Experiment Monkey demand you start poking and prodding yourself for our entertainment.
I’m out,
Shane
P.S. Did you get the kua gas website working? Also check out protectionhouse.com…, the new website I told you about home automationa and security.
December 30th, 2007 at 6:57 pm
dear monkey, just wanted to thank you so much for taking the time to post these descriptions and pictures of what youve been going through. when i was diagnosed with melanoma near my eye and had to have the surgery with all the correct margins i felt dismal at the thought of the resulting scar. since then ive realized that i am just really lucky to be alive! but having said that i still mind the scar they had to do in order to get the correct margins. on a woman it seems worse but for now i still have a long bandaid over it and sounds funny but relieved not to have peoples reactions. apparently keeping it covered in steri strip helps the result. anyway, thank you for being so great. it has been a real help. good luck and happy new year clare
January 9th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Hi Clare,
Thanks for the kind words.
I agree that scars on women aren’t as “accepted” as they are on men and I can understand your concern.
Like you, I say to myself all the time that I would rather have a scar and be alive than the alternative.
I had the surgery almost two years ago and I’ve only had 4 people ask me about my scar (I figured it would be a lot more!).
As with all things time does heal all wounds including melanoma scars
I don’t know if you can tell but the back part of my scar is very thick (keloid) and I’m planning on having my whole scar redone in a couple of years (scar revision surgery).
Again thanks for the post and positive comments. I would say to you just be greatful that you are alive and that you will be able to minimize the scar over time.
Monkey
March 11th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Mr. Monkey,
You have done an admirable thing by detailing your experience with melanoma.
I think you look great, I don’t understand why you call yourself Mr. Monkey.
March 26th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
hi monkey, just another up date on my melanoma scar which i was so worried about in December. it is MUCH better than i ever guessed it would be.. thin and lightening really well..can hardly see it now. i use mederma but only at night. what a relief and thank you so very much again for your support and kind reply at a time when i was so nervous about the outcome,. you are terrific to take the trouble and time to help people in this way and i for one, am very grateful! you made me feel o much better. thank you and good luck clare
March 27th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Hey Clare!!
Great news and thanks for the update! Sharing your story will hopefully
reinforce the idea that melanoma surgery, while scary, can be overcome.
Monkey
March 27th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Hi Marisa,
Thank you for the post and kind words.
As for why I call myself Mr. Monkey it is because I see myself as the “experimental monkey” on which I “test” different health related products.
I’m going to eat a banana now.
March 27th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Hey Monkey, I happened to drop by your site while doing some research on scars. I just had a hypertrophic scar excised on my arm, and after the stitches came out I started doing the same thing as you did — applying Mederma and Cica-care silicone sheet to the incision simultaneously. Interesting to hear that you tried that as well.
Would you mind telling me how this “double-whammy” treatment worked out for you?
Also, have you tried to laser your scar? I read that pulsed dye laser and KTP laser are effective in treating new surgical scars.
Please feel free to email me back.
March 27th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
Hey Monkey, I just browsed some more around your page and read that you’re planning scar revision surgery in the near future… I’ve done two surgical excision myself on a hypertrophic scar on my arm so I think I may be of help. I’m kinda thrilled to find someone who’s going through the same thing as I am.
I’ve literally spent months researching hypertrophic/keloid scars, because I haven’t been able to get any reliable advice from plastic surgeons / dermatologists! (I’m sure you had similar experience) Now I literally have a digital library about all kinds of information on scars, lol…
Fortunately, with each surgical revision I saw major improvement in my scar. I think it would be really beneficial for both of us to share our knowledge and experiences. Please email me and let’s chat.