Hi,

I know how worrying this must be, feeling that the 6 month delay will have made things worse. It may well be that your mole, 6 months ago, wasn't presenting any change in the cell structure. But since then it may (only may!) have started to slowly change. These are called dysplastic (atypical) moles. They are benign but have the ability, over time, to turn cancerous. It's difficult to tell which are dysplastic and which are cancerous without a biopsy so it's good that they have removed it now.

A wait of 6 months doesn't always mean it will have spread - melanoma can be slow growing & it has to grow deeper into the skin (not get bigger across the skin) for it to then have the ability to spread. Hopefully the results will come back clear or that it was dysplastic and hadn't yet turned cancerous. If it does come back as melanoma it will hopefully be early stage (shallow in depth) - these can be fully treated by another, wider, excision to ensure it won't recur.

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

Angie (melanoma patient)

Hi Angie,

thank you so much for your reply and your reassuring words. 
 

Im find the wait for results really hard and I keep thinking the worse. 
 

I presume if the letter arrives and  says I have a face to face appointment that the results are bad news?

lucy 

Hi Lucy,

I'm afraid you can't presume anything from the way you will receive your results, especially during Covid. Someone going through the same worry posted a couple of weeks ago with a follow up - they were sent an appointment letter & feared the worse, but they got clear results when they attended - so a face to face doesn't always mean bad news. One reason for this may be because they want to check the surgical wound and/or they want to check any other moles, especially if the mole came back as being dysplastic as patients tend to have more than one dysplastic mole or they get another in the future.

So, try and distract yourself & don't dwell on the results or how they are received or you will drive yourself mad. The wait is always the hardest so you have to find a way to cope that works for you - keeping busy is my 'go to' or trying meditation if anxiety becomes too overwhelming. Good luck

Angie

Hi Angie,

Thank you so much again, that is very helpful. I will try and keep myself occupied in the mean time and I will post an update here when I can. 

best wishes to you,

Lucy 

Hi Angie, 

I have an update. A letter arrived today that says 'I am writing to tell you that the area removed shows a mole. It does not have any sinister features and no further treatment is required. Please do not hesitate  to contact if you have any concerns about the diagnosis'. 
 

I rang dermatology to see if this letter was the results from the biopsy as I told the results would be given by my GP. The receptionist at dermatology said that the biopsy results are not back yet. 
 

so I'm not sure what to think, the letter is reassuring but don't know if this is the results of the histology as apparently they are still waiting on them?

Lucy 

Hi Lucy,

There certainly looks to be some confusion somewhere along the line. Is it the hospital's address on the letter? Who has signed it? This will give you some indication of where it originated. It should really have been sent out to you from the Dermatology consultant and a copy of the letter goes to your GP for your medical records. Maybe your results haven't been put on the computer records yet that the dermatology receptionist was looking at. If I were you, I would contact your GP and ask if they have received your results from the hospital as the letter you received & the phone conversation with the hospital doesn't add up. If your GP has received a copy of the same letter I would suggest it's correct and the receptionist has made a mistake. If they haven't received the letter then I suggest you ring dermatology back and ask to speak to the Specialist Nurse - you will get more sense out of them!

I hope this helps - good luck and please let us know how you get on - hopefully the letter is correct and the mole is benign.

Angie 

Hi Angie,

yes the letter did have the hospitals address on it and also it was signed and authorised by the consultant. I've realised that on the back of the letter it has also been sent to the GP. 
 

I spoke to the receptionist in the morning and the letter arrived about mid day. she did say on the phone a letter was on its way to me but couldn't discuss it over the phone but did tell me not to worry but that the histology results hadn't come back yet. 
 

I rang back as I was confused and spoke to somebody else who have now said the letter that I've received is my results and that I may have been told they hadn't arrived as they say that to people as they are not allowed to discuss over the phone  

Lucy 

Lucy 

Hi Lucy,

In that case it's brilliant news that your mole was benign. You can now breathe again xx