@vickiegoins: I see this is your first time posting at Mayo Clinic Connect so as a mentor here and as one who has also treated for malignant melanoma I'd like to extend a welcome to you. I remember feeling utterly devastated when I got my diagnosis, at age 63, that I had this malignancy and would require a wide local excision with reconstruction as the lesion was on my cheek, adjacent to my nose. I did undergo the procedure at a surgicenter about 2 months after diagnosis.

Of the three types of skin cancer - basal cell (BCC), squamous cell (SCC) and melanoma - the latter is the most serious due to the potential to spread to distant organs, even in cases where it may appear to bypass the lymph nodes. Therefore, there is a great risk of leaving malignant melanoma untreated due to the great potential for metastasis and mortality. With early intervention, such risk can be reduced tremendously.

This explains more about melanoma including the rationale for surgery: https://mcpress.mayoclinic.org/cancer/understanding-melanoma-treatment-options-and-how-they-work. You can see that not only does the lesion itself need to be excised, but a portion surrounding it to be certain all the cancerous cells have been removed and the margins remain clear; this is performed in hopes of preventing further spread that could not be ascertained by any other method (such as radiation). Following surgery, other interventions may be utilized, especially if the melanoma has been found to have metastasized.

You have referenced your age, which I see is not substainally older than myself now, as a reason to to avoid this type of surgery. Can you tell me more about why you feel this way?