Hello Haymil, 

A big welcome to Cancer Chat. You took the right steps in getting in touch with your GP about this mole and I hope that the telephone consultation goes well next Wednesday. Keep strong - I know it is really hard but try not to think too much about this while you are waiting. It won't be long before you talk to the GP so try and keep busy and distracted and to focus on something else while you are waiting to speak to your doctor about this. Resist the urge to take so many pictures of your face as this will only fuel your anxiety at the moment. It's normal to be scared and to fear the worst but the best thing to do for now is to try and focus on the moment and avoid looking things up online. I can imagine it is hard for you to do this but it will help you feel a little less anxious. 

I hope you will also hear from others here who have been through all this before and that they will be along soon to share their story with you. 

Keeping everything crossed for you that everything turns out fine. 

Best wishes, 

Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

I am scared to death! So worried. I'm trying so hard to be strong but whenever I look at my children I just lose it xx

Hi Haymil,

Please try not to over think your mole. If you've had it for years and the only change it's showing is itching, there is a very good chance it's fine and it may be something simple that's causing the skin to itch in that area (have you changed any cleaning or cosmetic items you use on your skin as it may be a slight allergic reaction)? Itching alone isn't necessarily a sign of malignancy.

It's good that you are speaking to your GP - they will probably ask you to send them a couple of your photos for them to look at. If they aren't sure about it they will either send the photos to a dermatologist for their advice or they will refer you to dermatology. There is a good chance though that the dermatologist will think it looks fine. You may be asked by your GP or a dermatologist to monitor the mole over a few weeks, perhaps taking a photo every week to show if there are any subtle changes. So until you've spoken to your GP don't take anymore photos, unless it changes drastically before Wednesday.

75% of patients referred to dermatology are given a clean bill of health so try not to focus on the worse case scenario because there is a very high chance it's not going to happen. Stop looking on Google - the images don't reflect the differences between a benign mole, a dysplastic (pre-cancerous) mole and a malignant mole. The information is also a year or two behind the times - it doesn't give updated treatment details regarding new treatments and the success they are beginning to show, so it's not a true reflection of moles & melanoma these days. 

Try to distract yourself until Wednesday - you can't change anything and worrying about something that might never happen will make the anxiety worse than the problem. Good luck and please let us know how you get on,

Angie (melanoma patient)

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply ️