mhees1964

I have hundreds of freckles on my body. No dark, wierd looking moles. They are light to medium tan, look like age spots.  15 of these freckles/moles have been removed… 8 have come back as melanoma. 7 InSitu and 1 malignant. I have surgery with skin graft scheduled for the 15th of this month as 3 of them are close together around the ankle area.  I have seen a cutaneous oncologist at Moffitt in Tampa (I live in Florida) and have been diagnosed with FAMM (a genetic familial melanoma). 2 of my brothers have had melanoma, 2 cousins have stage IV melanoma, an aunt died of pancreatic cancer and another had melanoma.  My pathology is also being tested for Bapomas (from BP1 link), which sometimes is mistaken for melanoma.

I look at my "freckles" every day and watch them change. They get bigger, but they don't get darker. We take them off and they come back as melanoma and then more surgery. So be careful when you tell people that hundreds of freckles/moles can't turn into melanoma, because if you have FAMM they absolutely can. I am living this nightmare and we can't take them off fast enough.  And telling someone with melanoma to go out into the sun is bad advice. Yes, everyone needs sunshine but we need to avoid it between the key hours (10-4).

I am 51 years old, never was sun burned, but I play golf and deep sea fish. Alot of time was spent in the sun during key hours and I am paying the price now.

I have hundreds of freckles on my body. No dark, wierd looking moles. They are light to medium tan, look like age spots.  15 of these freckles/moles have been removed… 8 have come back as melanoma. 7 InSitu and 1 malignant. I have surgery with skin graft scheduled for the 15th of this month as 3 of them are close together around the ankle area.  I have seen a cutaneous oncologist at Moffitt in Tampa (I live in Florida) and have been diagnosed with FAMM (a genetic familial melanoma). 2 of my brothers have had melanoma, 2 cousins have stage IV melanoma, an aunt died of pancreatic cancer and another had melanoma.  My pathology is also being tested for Bapomas (from BP1 link), which sometimes is mistaken for melanoma.

I look at my "freckles" every day and watch them change. They get bigger, but they don't get darker. We take them off and they come back as melanoma and then more surgery. So be careful when you tell people that hundreds of freckles/moles can't turn into melanoma, because if you have FAMM they absolutely can. I am living this nightmare and we can't take them off fast enough.  And telling someone with melanoma to go out into the sun is bad advice. Yes, everyone needs sunshine but we need to avoid it between the key hours (10-4).

I am 51 years old, never was sun burned, but I play golf and deep sea fish. Alot of time was spent in the sun during key hours and I am paying the price now.

I have hundreds of freckles on my body. No dark, wierd looking moles. They are light to medium tan, look like age spots.  15 of these freckles/moles have been removed… 8 have come back as melanoma. 7 InSitu and 1 malignant. I have surgery with skin graft scheduled for the 15th of this month as 3 of them are close together around the ankle area.  I have seen a cutaneous oncologist at Moffitt in Tampa (I live in Florida) and have been diagnosed with FAMM (a genetic familial melanoma). 2 of my brothers have had melanoma, 2 cousins have stage IV melanoma, an aunt died of pancreatic cancer and another had melanoma.  My pathology is also being tested for Bapomas (from BP1 link), which sometimes is mistaken for melanoma.

I look at my "freckles" every day and watch them change. They get bigger, but they don't get darker. We take them off and they come back as melanoma and then more surgery. So be careful when you tell people that hundreds of freckles/moles can't turn into melanoma, because if you have FAMM they absolutely can. I am living this nightmare and we can't take them off fast enough.  And telling someone with melanoma to go out into the sun is bad advice. Yes, everyone needs sunshine but we need to avoid it between the key hours (10-4).

I am 51 years old, never was sun burned, but I play golf and deep sea fish. Alot of time was spent in the sun during key hours and I am paying the price now.

FYI – I recently saw a melanoma specialist (cutaneous oncologist) at the Moffitt Center in Tampa. He told me that I should avoid steroids as much as possible as it stunts ones auto immune response when you have melanoma. (I had been on a short dose of steroids for a chronic cough).

FYI – I recently saw a melanoma specialist (cutaneous oncologist) at the Moffitt Center in Tampa. He told me that I should avoid steroids as much as possible as it stunts ones auto immune response when you have melanoma. (I had been on a short dose of steroids for a chronic cough).

FYI – I recently saw a melanoma specialist (cutaneous oncologist) at the Moffitt Center in Tampa. He told me that I should avoid steroids as much as possible as it stunts ones auto immune response when you have melanoma. (I had been on a short dose of steroids for a chronic cough).

FYI – melanoma typically returns, sometimes to the same site as a previously removed melanoma, 10 years after it has been removed. You are never "out of the woods" after melanoma has been discovered and one must be very deligent in paying attention to changes in your skin and seeing your derm at least twice a year.

FYI – melanoma typically returns, sometimes to the same site as a previously removed melanoma, 10 years after it has been removed. You are never "out of the woods" after melanoma has been discovered and one must be very deligent in paying attention to changes in your skin and seeing your derm at least twice a year.

FYI – melanoma typically returns, sometimes to the same site as a previously removed melanoma, 10 years after it has been removed. You are never "out of the woods" after melanoma has been discovered and one must be very deligent in paying attention to changes in your skin and seeing your derm at least twice a year.