Hi all,

I have had a few moles removed previously but the doctors never seems too concerned about these. Over the last few months I noticed a very dark (almost black) mole on the back of my thigh that had a shiny almost scale like appearance to it. I went to see a dermatologist and they said I needed to have it removed urgently. It took nearly three weeks for this to be then removed. When I asked him how worried I should be about it he told me the odds were stacked against me that it is a melanoma. I had it removed at the hospital yesterday and again I asked the doctor if he could tell if it was a melanoma just by looking at it and was just told that they suspected it is and I would have to wait approximately six weeks to get the results. I am therefore now extremely worried what impact a six week wait could have if it is a melanoma and if there is anything I can do to speed up the process. Obviously I'm very worried and have been Googling things, which have told me a melanoma can spread to stage 4 within 6 weeks, which has got me really worried. Does anyone have any advice or could talk me through your experiences just to try and help me understand everything a little more? I'm 47, the mole was 5mm and I'm based in the south of England. Do you think the doctors have a good idea of the outcome before the test results are in? Could a six week wait for results be dangerous if it is a melanoma? If there anything I can do to speed up the results? What's the next steps if it's bad news? Thank you all x