Hi lovely 

hope your well, my situation is a lot different to yours I've got lymph nodes on my kidney which they seem concerned about they were found on Sunday and I'm going for a CT contrast of my abdomen and pelvis. But I feel like am going insane too I feel like it'll be nothing but it's your natural reaction to sit and worry. Try keep your mind occupied. 
 

lots of love and good luck x

Hi Plee,

You have come to the right place & what you feel is entirely normal. Even if you were home with family & friends you would probably find it hard to voice your fears - it's a lonely place when you are waiting for results. I'm happy to chat if I can be of any help. I've had 7 moles/lesions removed over the years - one was melanoma. This is a good example of how the odds are in your favour for it to be benign - however, if it isn't, don't panic. Treatment for melanoma has come on leaps & bounds over the last few years so a melanoma diagnosis is not as desperate as it once was. 

I suggest that you try & factor in some time out from studying each day & use that time to take care of yourself - a walk in the fresh air, a long bath with soothing music, try meditation or mindfulness (lots on YouTube) - anything that will take your mind off it for a short time. Hopefully you won't be waiting too much longer for your results & they will bring good news. Good luck and please let us know how you get on,

Angie (Stage 3 melanoma patient)

Thank you for your reply you have no idea how much you've helped. 
I've been trying to go on walks and have taken breaks from my studies at times just to clear my head. It does work , I'm just taking each step as it comes, I feel like there's no 'normal' way to feel but family and friends are often dismissive and not checking in so it only adds to the frustration. I'm glad to hear that the odds are in my favour though and I hope your also doing ok with your diagnosis. Thank you again, I really needed to hear that and I apprecaite it so much :) x

Hi [@Plee]‍ 

As you said there is no normal way to feel. I was about 11 years old when I had my first mole removed and biopsied and have since had another couple removed. My nan had a history of Melonoma and as I have Moles and some that have grown changed and become very horrible over they years I know that it can be hard to not notice them, pay attention to them and worry about them. - All of mine have been fine so far and I am now 46. (I am on here due to a different cancer diagnoses..)

People can say or feel oh but your young it won't be anything, unfortunately it can hit people at any age, but just because it can doesn't mean it will. It is very hard for friends and family to understand how your feeling, and very hard for them to know what to say as really it doen't matter what they say in your head your still going to think the worse until you get the result. And that's OK... I think it's very natural for us to think the worse. 

As a side note - when I was 23 I suffered a miscarriage - I was so devasted and didn't want to go out and didn't make an effort with my family to let them know how I was doing - why because I was in my own personal hell - My mum, my step father, my sister all knew where I lived just 10 miles away, they knew how to contact me but yet I heard nothing from them at all, when finally 3 weeks later I contacted them, they had a go at me and I felt so alone. I felt they didn't care I had lost something so important to me, they just continued on with their lives as if I was nothing.

I know this is a completely different situation to what your going through, but I wanted you to know that they just may not understand how your feeling and how much it is affecting you. It is OK to keep telling them your worried and make them understand that they may feel it is nothing to worry about, but that you are worried about it and need them to just understand you for the time being, it's OK to ask that of your family.

I hope you find something to keep you busy even if it is just short bursts.

Hi Plee, 

I'm glad I've been able to help in some small way. Sometimes family and friends don't understand this feeling, especially if they haven't gone through it themselves. Also, people think that skin cancer is an 'easy' cancer because you just 'get it cut out & you're cured' which isn't actually the case for many melanoma patients. We are trying to educate the public about skin cancers & the different types but it's an uphill struggle. We are here if you need to talk,

Angie x