Hi, I had a bleeding lump on my nose a couple of mm from the corner of my eye last spring. I was fast tracked and saw the consultant and was told it was melanoma, I was booked in to have it removed and the booking said it was melanoma removal. The NHS app still shows my last outpatient appointment was for melanoma. 

In the end it was not. It was a Spitz Nevus and was benign. Only the biopsy could show this so even though the consultant was convinced it was melanoma, the only way to find out is the biopsy once it is removed. 

Thank you so much for replying, you have made me feel a little better. I’m so pleased your diagnosis was incorrect, fingers crossed mine is too, it was just the certainty of the consultant and the urgency to have it removed. Again thank you for taking the time to reply xx 

No problem at all and I hope it goes well for you. I had the consultant drawing pictures showing the wide area exclusion and talking about plastic surgery and where he was going to get flesh and skin to fill the hole etc!

I am the type who likes to know everything anyway and I can't fault the process or the people (apart from the taxi not turning up and trying to find where to go in the hospital lol).

One tip I do have is that until it is proven not to be cancer, you can try finding out who the Macmillan nurse is and ask them to chase your results up if they are taking too long.

It took 10 days from me seeing the GP to the biopsy itself and then about a fortnight for the results.

In the end I emailed the Macmillan nurse and she checked the results for me.

Obviously mine was benign and not sure if you are meant to do that and I doubt they would say anything without permission but it did speed up getting the negative result at least. 

Thank you again for the speedy reply. That’s a great tip about getting your results quicker, I’ll look into it xx 

Just to say that if it is melanoma there's lots of potential for treatment. My partner is stage 4 but the immunotherapy is working really well. Most people catch it earlier than he did x

Thank you appreciate your reply. Hope you’re partner continues to respond well xx 

Hi,

Yes, consultant's can get it wrong sometimes. I've had it happen twice where, due to my history of melanoma, I've been referred for biopsy on two moles that were thought to be melanoma. It turned out that they were dysplastic (also known as atypical or precancerous). Dysplastic moles are ugly ducklings that look concerning but the cells haven't yet turned cancerous. Hopefully yours will be the same, however, don't panic if it is melanoma. As Lyn has mentioned, treatment for melanoma is showing great success these days &, if it's been caught early, it can be successfully treated with surgery alone.

As for the swollen node - if it was connected to a cancerous mole it wouldn't go down & disappear - it would either stay enlarged or grow even larger. So it's probably not connected. The fact your mole was removed there & then is good in that you didn't have to wait between appointments. If consultants have access to time, staff & an operating theatre they will remove the mole there & then. My brother was under the same consultant as me & he had moles removed on the same day on two occasions, whilst it's never happened to me - his moles turned out to be dysplastic whilst my first mole was melanoma, so the swiftness of the removal doesn't always mirror the urgency and outcome. 

I hope you aren't waiting too long for the results and that they bring good news. Please let us know how you get on,

Angie (Stage 3 melanoma patient since 2009)

Hi Angie, thank you so much for taking the time to reply, I feel a little calmer today and these replies sharing experiences are definitely helping. I’m trying not to look on the internet too much as it’s truly terrifying. I will certainly let you know when I eventually receive my results xxx