Hope your check up in Feb will be fine. It is indeed hard not to feel worrying. At the moment, before I get to see anyone, I'm just trying to stay positive, and read as much about it as I could. 

I am quite baffled as I don't exposed to sun often nor do I use sun bed at all. And it seems diet could be one of the contribution to my skin problems (I also have some sort of hand dermatitis), so I've decided to make my diet as nutrient as possible, to allow enough enzeyme and antioxidants and Vitamin D be absorbed. Hopefully it will at least some way help to slow down or improve any issues I'm experiencing. I guess that's all I could do for now until I get to see someone, also to make myself feel better.

I reckon that through GP, and wait for referral to see a dermatologist might perhaps take up to 1-2 months. Honestly I don't know if I can function normally to have the worrying thought playing in the back of my mind all the time. I just checked if I can book myself to see a private dermatologist, and turned out I still have to wait for a few weeks to see one! That possibly means NHS will have a longer waiting list. >.<

I have a deformed thumbnail and it started as a bruise under my nail at the base although I could not remember anything that could have caused that.

I didn‘t think anything of it until my nail started splitting and a lump developed at the base of my thumbnail. I showed to my GP and he said he didn‘t know what it could be and referred me, or so I thought.

Having waited three months for an appointment, I never got to see a consultant , only a photographer who took some pictures.

Still have not heard anything, but I looked on the internet and all the pictures I could find, that look like my thumb, suggest it is a Subungal Melanoma.

How can I get a diagnosis without going privat, which I cannot afford?

Doesn't seem clear what's happened so I would return to your GP and ask abouot the photos etc, before worrying about the private route.  

Definitely return to GP and be persistent with either being referred or receiving some kind of further information. It’s important you get it checked out and followed up. 

You definitely need to return to your GP. Some practices refer patients to have photos taken and they are forwarded to the dermnatology clinic for analysis. They then tell the GP either it looks fine or it needs a 2 week referral to their clinic. It sounds like your case has fallen through a gap somewhere so your GP needs to check up what happened to the photos. Hopefully they've been checked & it was OK but it's important to get it sorted in case you need seeing by a dermatologist. Please let us know how you get on.

Angie (melanoma patient)

I have today been told that it is a cyst, but it doesn’t look like any of the pictures of cysts I have found online. No one has spoken to me and I have not seen anyone apart from my GP and the photographer.

i waited three month to have my pictures taken and another two weeks to be told, I have to wait 4 months to see a surgeon. Let’s hope that the diagnosis was right, because if not, it will be over 8 months since I developed the bruise under my nail. What is the heath service coming to. Feeling worried and let down!

Please please please see a different dr and mention your concerns about melanoma, mine was fobbed off by a few GPs for 18 months as fungal, it ended up a lump under the nail that split the nail and bled. I am now stage 3B having adjuvant immunatherapy with an amputated thumb, 3 monthly CTs and 6 monthly brain MRIs. All you need is a fast track 2ww biopsy that will hopefully be benign but you need to know either way.... have you had one yet? 

Take care xx

No Louise, I got a letter from the Dermatologist saying he suspects it is a cyst and my GP should refer me to a surgeon. I have asked my GP about SM and shown him a picture, I found on line that looked exactly how my thumb looked when it started. He said he would ask the dermatologist to have another look, but he said he could not guarantee that he will see me or do a biopsy. He was not keen to refer me to a surgeon as in his opinion surgery does more damage than any good. Said I could lose the use of my thumb. So short of going privat, I don‘t know what else to do.

Very worried!

I dont understand how he can only suspect a cyst, which isnt definite, then not biopsy to be sure? Am I missing something?

when I "eventually" got referred the derm looked at it and said he was 99 percent sure it was benign, a result of over healing and nothing to worry about, my nail clipping came back clear so to be on the "safe" side he referred me to a plastic surgeon for biopsy, well, you know the rest. GPs are not very educated and this is extremely rare and not a cancer that is presented often, if at all to GPs.

I would start talking official to them, explain you wish to have a biopsy, if that doesn't happen you will take things much higher and possibly instruct a solicitor. 

It's your life hun take back control xxx