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Suspected Melanoma - So Scared

Hawtain
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Hi everyone, 

I went to see the dermatologist Tuesday after finding a very suspicious exsisting mole that had grown in size to 5mm, become more raised, felt a lot bumpier and had changed colour, it's brown but now a darker brown. In the last few weeks it had became very itchy too.


I've been trying to stay positive but the dermatologist wasn't very reassuring I was only meant to have it looked at but she wanted to remove it straight away. When I asked her how suspicious it looked she said enough for me to want to remove it now but it looks like we may have caught it early. So she pretty much confirmed that I have melanoma and now I'm scared to death.

I know I did the worst thing you could do and googled my symptoms and it doesn't look like it can be anything else other than melanoma. Mine is raised not flat like most melanomas, it's not too large either so it fits the nodular melanoma criteria a lot more than any other melenoma so I'm freaking out a little. I'm 33 feel way too young for this to be happening but I've been a sun worshipper my entire life so I suppose I was asking for it. You never think something like this will happen to you though. 
 

I guess I'd just like to hear about anyone else's experiences and whether anyone had a similar mole to mine and what it turned out to be?

 

Much appreciated xx

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    Hi,

    I know this has come as a huge shock to you but let's try & dispel some of the Google stories first - Google is way out of date when it comes to melanoma & it's treatment so it just scares everyone senseless - don't do it except for respected websites like this one and Macmillan and the British Association of Dermatologists - these are up to date. 

    Although it's freaked you out it's actually a good thing that the dermatologist removed it there & then, otherwise the waiting for removal can take a few weeks & the stress of waiting can be debilitating. Also, it means you are rid of it now which is a huge positive! 

    75% of patients who get referred to a dermatologist get a clean bill of health so the odds are good. If, however, you are in the 25% that get a diagnosis of melanoma, it can still mean that it's early stage. Early stage patients have a 95% chance of never having any further problem. So it's not as bleak as Google would have you believe. Some moles that look nodular can actually be dysplastic (atypical) moles - they look bad but are actually benign, however they like to remove them because they have the ability to turn cancerous if left in situ. So you see, there are a few options as to what the biopsy results could find.

    The good thing is that you now realise that sun worship (and sunbeds too) can raise the risk of skin cancer so, whatever the biopsy result, please be more careful in the sun from now on. Good luck and please let us know how you get on,

    Angie (Stage 3 melanoma patient)

  • Offline in reply to AngieT

    Thanks for taking the time to reply to me. That has made me feel a lot better I didn't know about atypical moles. At least that gives me a little hope until I find out my results. The dermatologist told me I'd be coming back in to get a larger part of my skin removed she seemed pretty sure that it's melanoma. I thought you would wait for the results before deciding that. I really hope she's wrong or just being overly cautious. Like you said at least she took it off there and then. I'll be very careful to look after my skin from now on even if it turns out to be nothing this has been a hug wake up call.

    Thanks again you have really helped xx

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