Mole biopsy

In January I noticed a fried egg mole that I've had forever had got dark patch underneath and 2 darker spots at top I checked back over photos and the darker patch has been developing over 3 years the first 1.5 years looked like a brown blob then over the next 1.5 years it's got bigger. I am so scared

4 years ago I had an atypical mole removed so was on top of checking my moles.
when I first went to gp I could only see a nurse who told me mole was fine but I wasn't convinced so saw go a week later who referred me I went to dermatologist app they said biopsy in 4 weeks I couldn't wait that long so I had it done privately last Thursday. 
sorry for long post but I'm struggling Thanks for listening 

  • Bless you - take very deep, slow breaths while reading my reply.

    You are not going to die - the odds of this happening are very low. How can I say this? Well, firstly you don't know if it's melanoma - there is a very good chance it's benign or another atypical mole as people with one atypical tend to develop another one. Secondly, if it's not benign or atypical and it's melanoma, there is a good chance it's caught early stage and will be successfully treated. The fact it wasn't removed when you first noticed the change won't have a huge bearing - I left mine a year and it was still early stage. Lastly, even if it's melanoma and not early stage, treatments these days are showing great promise and it's not as desperate as it once was.

    Wishing you hadn't had it removed wouldn't have given you any peace of mind, believe me. You have done the right thing and now you need to distract yourself from dwelling on the worst case scenario because you will make yourself ill. Try meditation or mindfulness to help calm your anxiety or speak to your GP 're counselling or meds. 

    You will get through this and we are all here for you. Hopefully you will get your results quickly and they won't be as bad as you fear. Good luck and please let us know how you get on.

    Angie (melanoma patient)

  • Thank you for taking the time to reply. 
    I'm just in a mess. I have 2 other atypical moles that I just watch. This one was a normal mole so I never paid it as much attention either. I didn't know if a normal mole could turn atypical I just presumed atypical moles appeared. Can a normal mole turn atypical ? 
     

    thank u again for replying I really appreciate it

  • The problem with moles is that no two will look the same, including atypical ones. That's what makes it difficult for a dermatologist at times. There are moles that they definitely know are dodgy, there are moles that they are pretty sure are normal and there are then the 'grey area moles' where they can't say either way and only a biopsy will 100% tell if it's dodgy. That's why most dermatologists won't say one way or the other and leave it to the biopsy results. 

    Try not to Google photos of moles as it won't help and will only worry you more. As you say, you know you can't change the situation so you have to prepare to accept whatever the results show and then move forward from there. Whatever the result your dermatologist will deal with it - out your faith in them and they won't let you down. 

    Angie

  • thanks for replying to me. It means a lot