Second cancer?

Hi 

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2019 and am now in remission. In May this year I went to my GP about a new and large mole on my jawline. I was fast tracked for a biopsy. I haven't had the pathology results yet but I've been told the MDT have met today to discuss these and any next steps. With the first cancer, which thankfully was found early, it was almost like it was happening to someone else and I seemed to cope with surgery and follow-up treatments well. However the possibility of a second cancer has hit me much harder. I think I'm having a delayed reaction to the first diagnosis and I'm scared of another bad diagnosis. I'd really appreciate some advice from anyone whose been through something similar. All help welcome. Thanks

  • Hi KT-Hi,

    Sorry to hear you're going through this - it must be an awful shock, especially since your breast cancer diagnosis wasn't that long ago. I can't say I'm in the exact same situation as you, but I'm in a similar one; had a suspicious mole removed from my shoulder for biopsy 2 weeks ago, waiting for results now. If the MDT have met today to discuss your results, you should hopefully be getting them very soon - so hopefully you're not waiting too much longer. You may already know this but MDT discuss results whether they're good or bad, so there's no way of reading into what it might mean.

    It's normal to be scared and think the worst of any upcoming results, but don't, and try to distract yourself as much as possible. A large percentage of moles that are biopsied actually come back as benign (I think over 90%), and secondly, even if it is something, it's very treatable if caught early. I didn't know this before my own mole scare, but it's actually possible for moles to grow/change and still be benign. They're called dysplastic nevi - which basically means the cells are acting weird but it's still perfectly harmless.

    That said, having been diagnosed with breast cancer before must make this so much more difficult for you. Try to distract yourself as much as you can do, worrying about the possibilities seldom helps since we tend to zone in on the worst outcome it could be, but at the same time look after yourself and make sure you talk to someone if you need to. 

    Best of luck for your results and I'll keep everything crossed for you.