HelloDrunkOrange

I'm sorry to hear that you're waiting on the removal of a suspicious mole at the moment. It's understandable that you're feeling anxious and have some questions ahead of your appointment. Hopefully you won't have to wait too long to be given a date. 

We know that for many people this period of uncertainty can be difficult and it's natural to be worried about the possible outcome. Many people find it helps to chat things through with someone and I wonder if you might find it useful to talk with one of our nurses. I'm sure they will be happy to listen and offer any advice, information and support they can. If you'd like to talk with them they're available Monday to Friday 9 am to 5 pm on 0808 800 4040. 

You might also like to have a look at this thread posted by [@newtothis2023]‍  who is also in a similar situation to you at the moment. It may be that the two of you are able to chat and support each other through your experiences. 

I hope you have some news soon DrunkOrange. Keep in touch and let us know how you get on. 

Best wishes, 
Jenn
Cancer Chat moderator 

Hi,

Moles can change and still be benign. They can change for different reasons such as pregnancy hormones, trauma and UV damage. They can sometimes change due to friction but it doesn't usually make them grow larger.

If it's been changing over such a long period it may be dysplastic (precancerous) or it may be melanoma but it may not have grown deep under the skin so it hasn't produced any other symptoms (which only occur if it's spread). The only way to get an answer is from it's removal and biopsy I'm afraid.

I hope you aren't waiting too long for your appointment. Good luck and please let us know how you get on.

Angie (Stage 3 melanoma patient since 2009)

I just got a hospital appointment for 4 weeks from now, what to expect?

My dermatologist said they'll remove it and test it in the hospital, from what I've read they'll cut out the mole and nearby by tissue for testing, what if the mole is too deep, bad news? Or can normal moles grow deep? 

Normal moles don't grow below the epidermis so they sit on the first layer of skin. Precancerous moles haven't started growing below the epidermis but the cell structure and shape has started to change in the mole. Melanoma is where the cell structure and shape has changed and the mole has started to grow into the lower layers of skin. The less it's grown the better as, if it grows too deep, there is more chance a cell can break away, travel into the lymphatic or blood system and then travel to a lymph node and beyond.

At the initial removal of the mole they also take a small margin of surrounding tissue including the full depth of the mole. The mole and tissue is then tested to see if the cells are benign, precancerous or malignant. If malignant, they then do a second removal of tissue as a belt and braces procedure in case a cell has broken away into the surrounding tissue. This is called a Wide Local Excision (WLE).  Depending on the depth of the melanoma they may also suggest a Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy (SLNB) - dye is injected at the site of the melanoma and tracked by Ultrasound to see which lymph node(s) it travels to. They remove the nodes and biopsy them to see if any melanoma cell has already travelled there. Most WLE's come back clear whilst a small amount of SLNB's are positive for melanoma. 

About 90% of melanoma diagnoses are In-situ (not grown below epidermis) or Stage 1a (less than 1mm depth and not ulcerated). These melanomas have a 97% success rate of cure after surgery. Melanoma deeper than that (Stage 1b or Stage 2) have a slightly lower success rate but even those that are very deep have a good chance of successful treatment.

Try to not forward think too much at the moment. The good thing is that it's getting removed and there is still a chance it turns out to be benign or precancerous.

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

Thank you! I'll try not to stress

My daughter had a mole on her back same sort of size as yours and went to the GP as she noticed it had changes of colour within it and the texture had changed. She was referred to the hospital on the 2 wk pathway. The hospital agreed that the mole looked suspicious and needed removing and were also not happy about a second mole on her back, fairly close to the other one and only slightly smaller. She was given an appointment whilst at the referral and had less than 2 weeks to wait.

She was told that due to the size of the moles and the need to take the clear margin of surrounding skin that there would be scarring. The actual procedure did not take long. Healing took a little while - their position on the lower back meant difficulty for bending or twisting and watching waistband positions on trousers.

The wait for results was a long one. She was given an appointment for about 8 weeks after the procedure but was told she could ring after 6 weeks to see if the results were back. She heard after 7 weeks that both moles were benign.

My daughter was only 19 at the time and away at university. Her consultant was lovely and reassured her when she removed the moles that she was not to worry, that even if they were cancerous they had been removed and reminded her that her chances of benign moles was high.

I wish you well with it all

Jesus, 7 weeks for results

Thought it would be about 2

Glad all is okay

A late update, it was basal cell carcinoma, all was removed in one go, the mole looked absolutely nothing like what typical basal cells photos on Google, it looked more like melanoma 

now I've another appointment tomorrow for another suspicious mole on my buttcheek, it's tiny, and I've noticed a big mole on my head more itchy than normal, do you think it's possible for multiple excisions on the same day, or do they only remove what I was reffered for? 

Firstly, so pleased to hear it was a BCC which is more easily treated. That's the problem with all skin cancers, some can mimic other types - even some melanomas can look like innocent spots. It's always best to get these things checked out, as you did.

Sorry to hear you are going under the knife again but good you are on the ball with checking your skin. They only usually remove the mole you've been referred with, however, I've known the odd patient has managed to have a second mole removed at the same time. It will all depend if the theatre staff have time & resources to do two. I went to have a mole removed from my back - whilst face down on the operating table the surgeon saw a worrying mole on the sole of my foot (never thought to check there years ago). They brought me back a week later for their '2 for 1 offer' as the nurses named it!

Good luck tomorrow & let us know how you get on,

Thank you :) 

Last time for my BCC I had an appointment with a dermatologist in the hospital (reffered by my private dermatologist) and it turned out that my appointment wasn't for the excision itself, it was to be seen by the hospital dermatologist, she looked my skin over and agreed that that mole needed to be removed and told me to go home and come back in two hours for excision, so it got removed on the same day as my appointment

Then I had a referral with a different hospital for a "non suspicious" mole to be removed last week, and that appointment was for that mole only, it was a surgeon, not a dermatologist, he didn't check my skin, so i didn't bother bringing my other moles up to him

So tomorrow I have an appointment with a hospital dermatologist, like first time, so I'm assuming they'll be checking my skin again and either removing it later on the same day, like last time, or schedule for me to come back later, that's why in wondering if it's possible for them to schedule me for more than one mole

Also I'm pregnant, I know that mole removals and local anaesthetic is completely safe, but is there a chance they'll deny same day multiple surgeries because of my pregnancy? 

I just idk if I should push for multiple excisions or not, I'm currently worried about three moles, the suspicious one on my buttcheek, the itchy one on my head, and there's one on my breast that's kinda new and I think changing in size and becoming raised

I'll update my post tomorrow :)