I was diagnosed with Melanoma in situ under my left thumb nail. I went to my PCP August 30th, 2016 and showed her my nail. It was brown along th right side of the nail. She said it was nothing. I then had an appointment with my dermatologist the next day Sept 1st for a full body check. She never said anyting about my nail, and I did not mention it because mt PCP said it was nothing. About a month later October, I decided to google to find out what vitimin I was defitiant in to have brown nail, and was reading all about brown stripes on nail could be melanoma. I emailed my dermatologist to question this. She said I should come in and have a biopsy. They made me an appointment 2 weeks later They diid the biopsy, and it was positive for melonoma In situ. She referred me to Moffitt. Moffitt looked at the pathology and agreed that it was In situ. I had my surgery January 6th. They removed the nail bed and skin grafted. I went back for the results of the pathology, and they said I still had In situ, and .6 mm malignant melonoma. I went back for second surgery, and they removed everything up to the knuckle. they then said it was clear. I'm just wondering if the dermatologist had caught it September 1st instead of November 21st, if I could have had a better outcome. I can't bend the thumb anymore, and the surgeon said I probably will not get much movement back. Aso, is there any precautions I should take? I am now on 3 month checkups. Should I change dermatologists being that she did not catch this when she should have? It seems to me if you go to a dermatologist for a full body check, they should check everything.
.
.
