This weekend I noticed this weird bump right next to the incision on my leg. The bump looked like someone had marked my leg with a mechanical pencil, but it was hard to the touch, and it hurt when I pressed down on it. I called the advice line today about it to see if I should go in and have it looked at. They transferred me to my surgeons office, where I left a message. They called me back and asked me to come in as soon as possible, so I headed over. Turns out the mark/bump was actually one of my deep stitches. According to the doctor, there are/were 4 deep stitches in addition to the 20 or so surface stitches. The deep stitches are meant to disintegrate in about 6 months, but my body apparently doesn't like them, or at least the one that popped up this weekend. So today it took about 20 minutes, but the doctor was able to pull it out. It took a lot of pulling and tugging, and was quite uncomfortable, but I'm happy it's out. The doctor said the other kind of stitches that disintegrate only last 6 weeks, and he doesn't use them on legs because they break. So I have 3 more of those deep stitches, and I guess its a wait and see game to see if my body rejects those too.
Since I was there, I asked if the incision was healing well, and the doctor was mostly happy. He is slightly concerned that my skin still hasn't evened out, so I might have to go back and see him in a few months about that. I also asked if he would be my surgeon if I end up with another melanoma since I am seeing my dermatologist next week and am slightly concerned about it. He said it would either be him or one other doctor who is based in Kensington. I'm comfortable with him, so I hope it would be him if it has to be anyone, though I really home this was my one and only melanoma.
