My melanoma was initially an ugly black mole that grew on the side of my face, which I had removed by my dermatologist and sent to pathology for analysis, where it was determined to be a melanoma of intermediate depth.

Because of its depth into the skin tissue, I had a wide excision (where more skin tissue is removed) and a sentinel lymph node biopsy which removed four lymph nodes that were most closely connected to the tissue that was removed. Of the four nodes removed, three were negative (clear) and one had a micro metastasis (micromet) sized 0.18mm. This placed me at Stage IIIa.

The melanoma developed as tumors in my lung just over a year later, putting me at Stage IV.

The primary symptom I had was the mole. I felt completely normal.

As far as the treatment, read my answer about the "hellish" nature of it in another reply.