"Melanoma support"

I was diagnosed with melanoma stage 2a in January 2021. The wait until I could get the wider excision and the sentinel node removed in early February was an anguish. At times I felt ok, but then I had days when I was frantic with worry. 

My surgeon had given me Sandra’s contact details and I finally felt so desperate one night that I called the number. Sandra’s voice of calm, matter of fact and reassurance was wonderful. She used a phrase that I kept repeating in the days afterwards. “ if it has spread then you’ll be moved to stage three and we will discuss chemotherapy but.... “and this was the phrase ....”it is very unlikely that it will have spread”. The calming influence those words had was remarkable and I held on to them until, I got my next phrase of hope and relief from my surgeon a month later...” you could not have got a better result”...

I am so lucky. But I am also so fortunate that I had Sandra to steady my imagination and talk me calmly through that time. I met Sandra in person last week and had it not been for COVID I would have hugged her. I felt so emotional just her. She saved me that night and saw me through dark days. I will need forget her and am already looking forward to seeing her for my next 3month review.