Melanoma Bottom of Foot

My spouse was diagnosed with melanoma in situ. He has only had one area on his back. He sees his physician every 3 months. We were lead to believe that it was a good outcome. I found something suspicious on his back. Surgery was done. OK at this time. Good vibes and 🫂 🤗

Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect, @ebb606; glad to hear your melanoma was detected and treated so promptly. When classified as in situ it's essentially the equivalent of Stage 0, meaning confined to the uppermost skin layer. "In situ" actually means "original place" in Latin - therefore, this classification can provide assurance the melanoma has not gone deeper into the skin and has remained superficial and associated with a very favorable prognosis with treatment, as has been provided.

As with history of any type of skin cancer diagnosis, spoken as one who has had many, it's important to remain vigilant with regularly scheduled skin checks and sun protection.

This is a guide to help check for suspicious moles: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/melanoma/symptoms-causes/syc-20374884

How is your recovery going?

I also had a melanoma in situ removed from the bottom of my foot on July 29 (wide excision). I've not had skin cancer before but I did have breast cancer so now I'm interested in genetic and biomarker testing. Has anyone had this done?

My dematologist only wants to see me every 6 mos - I wonder if that is sufficient?

EBB606 I hope that you are recovering well. My recovery has taken some time because the 2" scar is on the weight bearing part of my foot and it still hurts when I walk. I'm going to ask my doctor about PT to see if that could help with the hard scarring that has developed. I've been using scar away silicone strips - I hope that they are working but a week in the results aren't super obvious to me.

@kristen729: Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect in general, and the melanoma group specifically. Not only will you find some helpful information here, but I imagine you'll have some helpful information to pass along as you continue in your recovery. There are others who will likley benefit from hearing about what may have helped you become progessively weight bearing and what recommendations you find out about re: improving the hard scarring.

As far as the stage of melanoma you were treated for, here is some background: https://www.aimatmelanoma.org/stages-of-melanoma/stage-0-in-situ-melanoma/?
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https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/skin-cancer/symptoms-causes/syc-20377605
As far as screening, your dermatologist generally considers your overall dermatologic and medical history when determining the screening protocol. As the in situ status of your lesion means it was confined to the upper most region of the skin without spread to deeper levels, it is generally advisable to have screenings at least annually, in addition to those you perform on your own. Since you also have a history of breast cancer - for which studies have shown a potential link with melanoma, possibly due to radiation treatment for past breast cancer or a genetic predispostion - this is definitely a topic worthy of further discussion with your medical provider.

I'd like to hear both about the treatment advised for the scarring and what the doctor has to say about genetic testing in your case. Can you post again when you learn more?

@kristen729 regarding post-surgery on the bottom of my foot, it takes about 4 weeks before I can put weigh on my foot. 2 Surgeries.
Due to to the size of it in my foot, I'm Melanoma Stage 111b. I start immunotherapy in 3 weeks. I haven't had any scans yet.
Dermatologist every 3 months.