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Mole Biopsy - Waiting for results

PaulHello
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Hi everyone,

I've just had a mole on my shoulder removed for biopsy. Slightly bigger than half a centimetre, has a weird border and different shades of brown. Haven't noticed any changes over 2 years until I saw a side-by-side and realised it had got darker - though shape / size seemed to remain stable. Started flaking in the last 2 days before I had it removed as well.

Needless to say I'm panicking a lot and thinking through worst case scenarios. I was told 6-8 week wait, which is a long time and means I'll basically spend most of the summer (at least) with this on my mind.

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    Hello PaulHello, 

    It's normal to be worried after having had your mole biopsy and having to wait for results is certainly a very difficult part of the process. It's hard to think of anything else and it can feel like time seems to stand still. This is something many of our members will be able to relate to and I hope that you will hear from others who have had a mole biopsy before and that they will be along shortly to share their story with you. There is information on the excision biopsy on this page which I hope you will find useful. 

    6 to 8 weeks is a long time to have to wait and I hope that they will manage to give you the results quicker so that you can manage to relax a bit this summer without this playing constantly on your mind. I know it's really hard but try not to worry too much or anticipate what it might be. The best thing to do to avoid thinking too much about this is to keep busy and distracted if you can and avoid looking things up online. I can imagine it is hard for you to do this at the moment but it will help you feel a little less anxious. There are helpful tips on this page to help you cope while waiting for important news. 

    Keeping everything crossed for you that everything turns out fine. 

    Best wishes, 

    Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator

  • Offline in reply to Moderator Lucie

    Thank you for your reply. 6-8 weeks is long but the nurses were lovely, and she said to be honest it's probably likely to be quicker but she doesn't want to say 4 weeks just in case, as they can take a bit longer, and she wouldn't want me worrying if she says 4 weeks and after the 4 weeks is up I'm still waiting.

    I did see a private dermatologist who was so sure the mole was nothing he didn't even want to remove it. But the nhs dermatologist said best get it removed to be safe. I've never bet against the nhs before but hoping they're wrong on this occasion haha.

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    Just wanted to follow up on this and update everyone. I was told yesterday that the mole they removed was benign. It goes without saying that I'm super relieved. The reason I'm updating this post is because I know from experience that people in the future who are going through the same thing will look back on previous posts in search of reassurance.

     

    So here it is; I had a mole on my shoulder that was picked up by the Skinvision app as high risk. I couldn't see a doctor due to COVID so sent them a picture, and they said it looked fine. Two years later, I went to a doctor again about a different mole, but the doctor's attention was immediately on the mole on my back. She was extremely concerned. She said it was firm, dark, multiple colours, had globules, and didn't look right under the dermtascope, so I was on an urgent 2ww. 

    The mole had even changed. I didn't realise but it had grown a little bit, and gotten darker. Not very dark, just a darker shade to the point it was only noticeable in a side-by-side. On top of this, in the days before my removal, it started to peel with bits of dead skin.

    The NHS dermatologist was not much help. He told me it needed to come off, and that was that. 

    Yesterday, I received a letter that stated the mole was completely benign, along with some further instructions for wound care.

    So my message is: always get a mole checked out, but please don't waste months/weeks thinking the worst while you wait for the results. Mine ticked all the ABCDE boxes, and on top of that it felt hard / was even starting to peel. Even then it was STILL benign. So sometimes you can't always know for sure.

  • Offline in reply to PaulHello

    Great news!! Like you said, it is always good to update your original post as it will help so many others in future x

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