Hi katieH18084,

Welcome to Cancer Chat. I can understand this must be difficult and I know the uncertainty and waiting for further information isn't easy. I hope it's not too long to wait for your appointment. In the meantime, try to take things a day at a time and keep yourself busy to help keep your mind off things.

If you'd like to talk things through with someone, our nurses are available on 0808 800 4040 (Monday-Friday, 9-5).

Otherwise, hopefully you'll receive further replies soon from others with similar experience.

Wishing you all the best,

Ben
Cancer Chat Moderator

Hi,

I can understand how worried you must be but it's good that your mole is getting checked out by an expert.

The deramtologist will probably examine the mole through a dermsacope which will show up anything unusual in the structure. If they think it looks fine you will be sent home with a sigh of relief! If they are unsure about it, they will arrange for it to be removed and sent off for a biopsy which will tell them if it's malignant, dysplastic (pre-cancerous) or benign. Sometimes they do the procedure at the appointment but if the mole is on your face I doubt they will do it then & there. They usually call the patient back to a day surgery clinic (it takes about 15 minutes but the whole thing takes 2 hours including pre & post op). It's done under a local anaesthetic and the wound is slightly larger than the mole as they take a small margin of good tissue from around the mole. Stitches may be dissolvable or need removing after about 2 weeks and the results are currently taking about 6 weeks.

If the appointment says you can take someone with you, please do as it helps to remember anything that has been explained that you may forget. If not, either take a notebook or ask if you can record the conversation on your phone so that you can refresh your memory afterwards.

75% of patients that are referred to dermatology find that their mole is absolutely fine so the odds are in your favour. Otherwise, treatment for melanoma is getting far better these days so don't panic, you are in safe hands. Good luck and please let us know how you get on,

Angie (Stage 3 melanoma patient since 2009)

Hi Angie,

Thank you so much for your reply. I had my appointment yesterday morning and they decided to remove the mole there and then. It was very stressful as I was there on my own but at least it is over and done with now and the mole has been removed. 

I was in a bit of a daze after I had it done so I cannot remember exactly what the nurse said about receiving my results but after reading a lot of posts on here I feel a lot less panicked and more positive that it is likely to be nothing to be concerned about. 

It's now just a waiting game I guess! 

Katie :)