So there I was in Bangkok. Comfortably in my apartment on my first business trip since COVID ruined the world we once new. Sitting on the toilet, playing away with my phone, I noticed this strange black spot (ugly duckling?) on my right thigh. It was very small, maybe two millimeter in diameter, and I was sure it was some dirt from the trip to the Beergarden the night before, so I tried to wash it off with some saliva. It didn't come off. I was quite surprised it didn't, and took a picture of the spot with my phone. I was really small, incredibly small I would say, and even on the picture it was hard to see what it was. When I touched it gently I thought I could feel some bumpiness, but was it real, or me being a hypochondriac?
Anyway, I bit the bullet, and decided to see a dermatologist @ Bangkok Hospital on my way to the airport. I stopped by, she checked it with a dermascope. She noticed multiple colors, wasn't sure, and recommended a biopsy. We could do it now, or in a month when I was back in Bangkok again. In a month's time seemed very tempting to me. I could just get a cab to the airport and see if I would have it done in month, or not, but somehow I told her to have it done now. She did, she took a biopsy, I paid the bill (ouch....) and took my plane back to Phnom Penh.
The doctor had told me there would be a result in about a week or so, so I kind of switched off about this topic and went on with my life, until I received an e-mail last Monday from her with the biopsy report stating I had skin cancer, a melanoma, on my leg. She advised me to see an oncological surgeon as soon as possible to treat the spot. Melanoma is a very invasive, unpredictable, fast growing cancer that's potentially fatal within a short time if you don't notice, diagnose & treat it fast.
So there I was, in a remote place in Cambodia, with this alarming e-mail. So I applied for a Thai Pass, rushed to Phnom Penh, received the Thai Pass, booked the first flight (Lanmei Airlines, FUCK YOU for that delay because of something broken without even offering of glass of water) and met a Thai Surgeon I selected on the web (he studied @ Jon Hopkins Uni - the criteria I used) on Tuesday. He was skilled, cut me to pieces on Wednesday, joked with me, and stitched me up, all at my expense of course. Do I have medical insurance? Sure I do, but only inpatient. This was all outpatient treatment where they prepare you, cut you open, stitch you back, let you recover in the recovery room (why?????) and then bring you to the cashier to pay, so I had to pay it by myself. I can tell you, surgery ain't cheap.
Today I got the final result, and while it's bad (cancer) it's the best I could have had, melanoma grade 0. This means it's in the earliest stage and it's (sorry, was) only in the most upper layer of the skin where's it's extremely hard to spread out.

So, why I am I bothering you with this story. Well, someday you might find a spot on your body which looks weird, not belonging to you. If you do, look for a pro. No need to go to Bumrumgrad, of another fancy hospital, but look for someone skilled for the job, and then have it removed ASAP. Preferably get a pathology, so you know what it is. If it is a melanoma (and in the tropics pig skinned people are at risk) a fast treatment might safe your life.

[edited for typos, no guarantee it's type free now]

Thanks. Good advice. I'm one of those that would probably ignore it until it was far too late, so your post is a bit of an eye opener for me and something worth thinking about.

Glad you caught it in time.

That's a coincidence, I've just had two taken from my back a few days ago. Good advice to regularly give yourself the once over, or preferably, get the doctor to give you the once over every year. Also good advice to not lift anything heavy after you get stitches in your back, in case you pull them a bit.

Kung-fu Hillbilly wrote: ↑Sat Jun 04, 2022 6:37 pm That's a coincidence, I've just had two taken from my back a few days ago. Good advice to regularly give yourself the once over, or preferably, get the doctor to give you the once over every year. Also good advice to not lift anything heavy after you get stitches in your back, in case you pull them a bit.

In my case, on the thigh, even walking was punished heavily by the body after surgery.

But you're right on the spot, my spot, the thigh, isn't a common one for guys. For men, the back is the number one spot. For ladies, it's the legs.

Kammekor wrote: ↑Sat Jun 04, 2022 6:40 pm
In my case, on the thigh, even walking was punished heavily by the body after surgery.

But you're right on the spot, my spot, the thigh, isn't a common one for guys. For men, the back is the number one spot. For ladies, it's the legs.

Got two more coming off in a couple of weeks - one on the neck, and one on the shoulder.

I've got a Soup Nazi for a skin doctor. Catherine is Chinese, about forty five, thorough and madly efficient (never a minute past appointment time - ever!), army-like precision in her movements, and communicates in barking orders as succinctly as the English language can be used. She asked me to lay on the table facing the window on my side last time, and me thinking of a weird cloud pattern I'd seen that morning or how many pebbles I had in an old can when I was eight, I just laid down on my stomach.

Catherine literally yelled "Listen to me!! On your side. Face the window!!" Then immediately as I'd settled on my side. "Sharp scratch." A used bloody swab arcs through the air into the bin with a thud. Rattling implements on a tray. "Sharp scratch" Swab through the air....

She's great.

This is a really useful thread topic, so thanks OP. Anyone who lives in Cambodia - or has lived in Cambodia or elsewhere in the tropics sometime in their life - needs to be on the ball when they see a new spot on their skin or one that is changing colour or getting bigger.

"Ideally", as a person with pink skin in the tropics, you should go to a dermatologist for a yearly checkup, but we don't all do that, so this is a timely reminder and wake-up call to :
A/ Pay attention to unexpected mole thingies that show up on your skin, AND do something about it - go see a doctor.
B/ Wear a hat, wear sunscreen, and don't expose yourself to the sun on purpose (a "holiday tan"is for tourists).

Kung-fu Hillbilly wrote: ↑Sat Jun 04, 2022 6:37 pm That's a coincidence, I've just had two taken from my back a few days ago. Good advice to regularly give yourself the once over, or preferably, get the doctor to give you the once over every year. Also good advice to not lift anything heavy after you get stitches in your back, in case you pull them a bit.

Were these found during a routine checkup or did it just start hurting?

Even when they think they get it all they can be wrong unfortunately - for more established melanoma. Less likely to be an issue when caught so quickly as OP. Good on you for acting so quickly!


Generally a person doesn’t feel pain. Melanoma is a stealthy killer growing without you knowing - until it metastasises to bones, brain and other organs. That’s why visual checks are needed

TheImplication wrote: ↑Sun Jun 05, 2022 4:06 am
Were these found during a routine checkup or did it just start hurting?

Routine/yearly check-up.