Hi AlexW,

Please try to take one step at a time & help calm your anxiety.

They sent this literature to you, not because it's probably going to be cancer, but because there is a small chance it may be and they like to prepare people before the appointment. Having said that, they won't be able to tell, 100%, at the appointment. They will look at the mole using a dermatascope which shows if there are any suspicious cell changes. If it looks normal you will be discharged as the mole is benign. If they aren't sure or it looks abnormal, they usually arrange for the patient to return on another day for the mole to be removed for a biopsy. This is done under a local anaesthetic and only takes about 15 minutes, however, it's rarely done on the day because they need that extra time, facilities and staff to perform the surgery. So it's very doubtful you will be walking out of the hospital with a surgical wound on your leg on the 12th. If there was any chance that might happen, they would have mentioned in your appointment letter 'not to expect to drive home yourself.'

Your husband won't be allowed to go into the department with you because of Covid restrictions. If you feel you may miss something important that's said, you can ask the consultant if you can record the consultation on your phone, or take time to write down what's said on a notepad. They are usually quite happy with that. I had an appointment last week for a lump checking by my consultant. My husband sat in the car in the car park which was full of spouses waiting for their other half to come out from their appointment! You will be fine, believe me. 

75% of patients referred to Dermatology get a clean bill of health, either at the first appointment or after a biopsy, so the odds are good that yours may be fine. Good luck and please let us know how you get on,

Angie (Stage 3 melanoma patient since 2009)

Thank you for your message Angie, I will try to calm down until I have my appointment and take it from there. I just wondered if they would check other moles I have while I'm there? I have a lot of moles on my body and I'm worried that there are others that might need checking too. I am feeling so paranoid now. I will let you know how it all goes, thanks again! Alex x

Hi Alex,

Most dermatologists will do a quick check of other moles but if not, ask them to do it. They are usually amenable to such requests. Good luck x

I don't know how I'm going to cope until Monday for my appointment, all I think about is my mole and what's going to happen. I tried to get an earlier appointment and they couldn't move it any earlier, they even laughed at me as if I was stupid for even asking. I was in tears on the phone. I am dreading what will happen after that appointment, will they have me waiting again for weeks. I'm so anxious and stressed and upset. I feel bad because I don't even know what's going on yet and I know people have a lot worse going on. But I can't help it. Just needed to rant, I'm not coping at all and I've not even seen a dermatologist yet. 

Rant away Alex, we all know what it's like being in limbo whilst waiting. If the anxiety gets too much for you I suggest you either try some meditation or mindfullness (lots on YouTube) or see your GP - they may be able to give you something to help for the moment.

Good luck next week x

Thanks again for your message Angie. I feel a little more relaxed at the moment but not sure how long I can stay calm for. I had my appointment yesterday and the Dr was not happy with how my mole looked, he warned me that it could be melanoma and it is showing signs of it. Not sure how he knows that by looking. He also did a full skin check and found another one he wasn't happy with and said I'll have surgery to remove both of them. I had photos of my skin for my medical records and he told me I would have my surgery within 4 weeks. I was so upset it's going to be another wait, and 4 weeks this time. I can't cope with the waiting and not knowing. I need to try stay calm. Will it really be 4 weeks to get the surgery it has he given me the worst case and it could be sooner. I just want these moles off my skin and find out what is going on. 
 

How long has everyone had to wait for their moles removed after the first appointment with the dermatologist? Praying I get my surgery ASAP! 

Hi Alex,

I'm sorry that you are now waiting to have two moles removed. I'm afraid 4 weeks is the average wait at the moment because of Covid. Pre-Covid it was 2 weeks. All you can do is try to distract yourself keeping busy and/or doing things you enjoy whilst you're waiting. Dermatologists are experts at looking at moles. They get a hunch if something looks like it may be a problem, especially if they've been doing it for years. My old dermatologist was brilliant at spotting a problem straight away. However, they do sometimes get it wrong & only a biopsy can confirm or negate their instinct. Hopefully this will be the case for you. Please remember that there are three possibilities that can come back in the results - benign, melanoma or dysplasia. A dysplastic (atypical) mole looks dodgy but it's benign. However, it's pre-cancerous and can turn cancerous in the future so it's better they are removed anyway.Quite a lot of moles that are removed are found to be dysplastic (on the turn) so hopefully yours may be the same.

Keep busy and hopefully the appointment will come through a little quicker. Good luck and please let us know how you get on,

Angie 

I hope you get seen soon. Its horrible waiting,but like Angie said try and keep busy to keep your mind off it. I struggled with anxiety when waiting for my results,and googled way too much. 

I wish you the best. 

Hi Angie, thank you so much for all of your previous messages. Since then I'm still not very clear a lot what is going on. I received a letter to say that my moles are unlikely skin cancer but they had to be sent to be checked again at a different hospital by specialists. My Dermatologist rang me to say they still don't know and they are going to have a committee meeting in 2 weeks to decide what to do next and I will probably need to have a wider area of skin removed so they can make sure there's nothing left to worry about. Im very confused. Have you or any one else on these forums ever experienced this before. How can they not know if it's skin cancer after all these tests and why would they need to take more skin. Im back to waiting around again and worried about having more skin removed as it was so painful last time. 
 

xxx

Hi Alex,

I'm sorry they haven't been able to make a definitive diagnosis - it happens more often than you would think. It can be because the cell structure in the tissue isn't presenting how they expect for a benign or malignant tumour. Or it could be that not enough tissue was taken to give them enough cells to check. Either way, they then send it to another hospital histology department that is more experienced in these type of problems. Sometimes even they can't make a definitive diagnosis. l

All results, whether positive, negative or unsure (as in your case) are then discussed at the weekly MDT meeting (Multi Disciplinary Team) which include the Dermatologist, Plastic Surgeon, Oncologist and nurses and they discuss the next step in each case. For patients in your position they tend to treat them as a melanoma patient and carry out the next treatment step which is a Wide Local Excision which is what your dermatologist spoke about. This is for two reasons - it's better that they assume your mole was malignant otherwise, assuming it was benign and being wrong, will mean the cancer could return without the wider excision. Secondly, the tissue from the WLE will also be biopsied and this may give them a better idea as to whether your mole was malignant or not.

I know that having further surgery isn't ideal due to the pain etc but it's better to be sure than not. I hope you aren't waiting for the WLE too long and that it's not too painful. Good luck and please let us know how you get on.

Angie