Melanoma removed from forearm

christinel

Hi, all. I was diagnosed with early onset melanoma last month, and had surgery last week to remove a coin-size piece of skin from my forearm. I am light skinned with freckles and noticed one freckle on my arm that was darker and getting bigger during the pandemic. Several friends pointed it out, and I had a doctor look at it during my recent checkup. She forwarded it to dermatology, and I was called in for an appointment, where we did a biopsy. The past few weeks have been very busy for me with my work, and the whole thing has been a little scary for me too. My grandmother (recently deceased) also had melanoma.

I am home now on a medical leave taking a week off after surgery, and I now have a very large 2-inch scar on my arm that is healing from the surgery. We caught it early - which is great - but call it vanity, but I'm sad looking at my arm now. I'm pissed off that this is how I look now - and wondering what it will be like dating moving forward -- I'm a single woman in my mid-40s with a huge scar on my arm. I'm also advised now to avoid the sun during peak UV time - and a lot of the activites that I love to do -- hiking, walking, gardening, swimming, SUP -- have just fallen by the wayside for now. I'm indoors watching TV, online shopping, reading, sleeping, and trying not to get down on myself with alcohol and weed. It's not fair at all but again, I'm trying really hard to be optimistic and look at this scar as my "tattoo" -- for real, my real tattoo badge of something.

I live in Northern California, and would love to connect with others who are nearby, and those who are melanoma survivors.

Thanks!