Hello Gemr93x and a warm welcome to our forum.

I'm sorry to hear about your experience with the GP, after reading what you described no wonder you're left feeling the way you are!

We have many people here that will understand exactly how you're feeling and I hope some of them will come along shortly with words of support and encouragement. In the meantime, would it be possible for you to see another doctor? It might be a good idea if you can.

The other thing I wanted to mention is that while we've all been there, try to stop googling your symptoms all the time as this will only increase your anxiety.

Last but not least, our nurses are just a call away if you think that speaking with someone over the phone may help. You can reach them on this freephone 0808 800 4040, Monday - Friday between 9a.m - 5p.m.

I hope all turns out well for you, Gemr93x.

All the best,

Renata, Cancer Chat Moderator

Hi,

I'm sorry you've had such an experience with your GP. Sadly, some GPs need to brush up on their social skills, especially for what could be a serious health problem.

The good thing is that they referred you so that the experts can decide if it's a problem. You are correct that moles can change during pregnancy due to hormones and it doesn't necessarily mean the mole is turning cancerous but it definitely needs checking out. Don't beat yourself up about not checking your moles more often - we are all guilty of that. 75% of patients seen by dermatology are given a clean bill of health so the odds are good that yours may be benign or atypical (pre cancerous). If it is melanoma, there is a very good chance it's been caught early and will only need surgical removal and a period of check ups.

Try to distract yourself whilst waiting for the appointment. Good luck and please let us know how you get on.

Angie (Stage 3 melanoma patient since 2009)

Thank you for your kind words. I managed to get an apt at private mole clinic the day after I saw my GP. A screening nurse took pictures with a dermascope and these were sent to a consultant dermatologist to review. The next day I received a primary diagnosis of benign/mild to moderately dysplastic mole, with a differential and in his opinion less probable but possible diagnosis of pre-malignant/severely dysplastic mole.

He has advised I still go the urgent NHS referral apt as planned for further assessment and possible removal and biopsy. 

This has given me some comfort, but for some reason I'm still frightened that the dermatologist who sees me in person  will come to a different diagnosis. Even though the pictures the dermatologist was sent were really up close, I have it in my head that in person they will be able to see it even better    and therefore diagnose it as malignant. I know that's irrational but that's what my anxiety is making me feel.

I did ask on the phone when the nurse rang me to discuss my results, so there isn't anything at this point in time that makes the doctor think it's cancerous going off the images and information provided? And she said no. I really have to trust his word and relax until my NHS apt. The dermatologist who reviewed my images also works for the NHS as a skin cancer and dermatology lead, so I'm sure if there were features of obvious malignant melanoma he would be able to spot them and would have diagnosed it as being so.

I suppose worst come to worst it could be in situ or at an early stage, I guess if it was a later stage the images would have shown more features that pointed to obvious melanoma and it would have been reported as being so. 

Thank you for reading my rambling! If anything it just helps writing all this down to make myself realise that what I've heard so far is all good news, and hopefully I'll be told the same on Thursday at my apt.

It's good you managed to see a private dermatologist in the interim. 

Regarding your fear that the NHS dermatologist will see something different up close - they will see exactly the same thing the private consultant saw because they will use the same equipment (dermascope) which shows them any unusual cell changes. Of course, it's then down to the interpretation each consultant has of the images. There is a very good chance that they will agree that it looks dysplastic but at the end of the day they can't know 100% without a biopsy. So in my mind, if the two consultants agree, the NHS consultant will probably suggest removal for biopsy so that you have a definitive diagnosis, especially if you want peace of mind. If it' turns out to be dysplastic it needs removing anyway so it doesn't get the opportunity to turn malignant in the future. It also means any other moles can be checked because someone with a dysplastic mole tends to have other moles that need keeping a close eye on (my brother, niece and nephew have all had dysplastic moles removed). 

Good luck on Thursday and let us know how you get on.

Hi Angie,

Thank you again for your kind words. I just wanted to update the thread regarding my appointment and will hopefully give some people an idea of current biopsy result wait times - I'm in Newcastle. The dermatologist said her gut feeling was that it was dysplastic as the mole did have some reassuring features and that most of it looked ok (importantly the border that had newly appeared she said looked ok), there was just one darker area that worried her, but I told her it had always been there and she said 'oh has it' and her tone lightened a little.
 

Of course she couldn't be 100% sure without biopsy so it was removed there and then. I asked her if it is cancerous is it likely to be early stage? She said oh yes absolutely it's just superficial, we would just get you back for a WLE. I asked her again towards the end of the apt - so there's nothing about the mole that makes you think it's started to spread deeper within the skin and again she said no, no it will be easily treatable. She reiterated that it could well just be a dysplastic mole and said that if she really thought it was melanoma she would be honest and would be saying 'look, I think it is' and preparing me for it today.
 

Before I left i was given an apt to see a consultant in 2 weeks (as was everybody). I was told that if it's good news and it comes back benign, I'll receive a phone call when the results are released a day or two before the apt and it'll be cancelled. So no news is bad news and it means I have to go to the apt. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a phone call this week and my apt is on Friday. Hopefully if I do have to go to the apt, the results will echo what the dermatologist thought and I'll be diagnosed at an early stage.

I'm not sure what the current waiting times elsewhere are but I'm glad that 2 weeks seems really quick in the grand scheme of things, even though the waiting makes it feel longer!

I will update again once I get the results.

Gemma x

I just wanted to update and round off the thread, I received my results over the phone today and the mole came back as dysplastic and benign. I am beyond relieved!! For anybody else reading this and in a similar situation and worrying about an already dysplastic mole having changed - contrary to what Google says, it can still be dysplastic! Of course it needs to be removed and biopsied, but it doesn't necessarily mean its melanoma. Stay off Google as much as possible, it does no good. I searched and searched to see if changing dysplastic moles can still be benign, and every article told me it would most likely be cancer. The most helpful thing I found was reading forum posts on this site.

Thank you again Angie for your support and for all of your posts on these forums, I have read a lot over the last few weeks and always found them very helpful.

Gemma x

Hi Gemma,

Sorry for my late reply - I've just got out of hospital (not melanoma related).

It's great to hear your news and taking the time to give advice to those possibly at the start of this worrying time.

You can now heave a sigh of relief and enjoy Christmas xx