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Concerning Mole.

sjp1985
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My wife went to see her GP today regarding a mole that over the last few months has changed colour and began to bleed, scab, and crust, then heal and do the same again. She had no other real symptoms. But the past week she noticed that the area around the mole has gone numb, with no sensation when the area is touched.

Online it says that this is a common sign of cancer, as the cancer spreads along the nerve, it can damage it.

The GP has sent an urgent referral to a dermatologist. But as of right now my wife, who has epilepsy is panicking, which is triggering more seizures due to the stress.

Has anyone had similar symptoms? I'm just trying to keep her, and myself calm. All I see anywhere regarding a mole that has changed, accompanied by a numb sensation around the mole.. is it's likely cancer.

So I'm trying to just get some idea of other things that can cause this issue, to give us some hope it isn't the worst case senario.

 

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    Hi,

    I'm sorry to hear that your wife is waiting to see a dermatologist and that it's causing her great stress and making her epilepsy worse. I suggest she contacts her GP to see if they can adjust her medication temporarily.

    With reference to your question about numbness around the mole. I have been a melanoma patient for 25 years (Stage 1 progressing to Stage 3) and I know many fellow patients and numbness has never been known as a symptom of melanoma. I believe though that it can be experienced in non melanoma skin cancer (basal or squamous cell carcinoma) as these tend not to be internally invasive unless left for many years without treatment. This means the Cancer cells spread horizontally on the skin rather than vertically into the lower layers of skin and, in doing so, can affect the tips of the nerves. BCC and SCC are much easier to treat than melanoma.

    Please try to keep away from Dr Google as it can be very misleading, is very out of date when it comes to treatments and just puts the fear of God into everyone. If you want information about suspicious moles and melanoma just read the tried and trusted sites, CRUK, Macmillan and the British Association of Dermatologists. Also, MelanomaUK and Melanoma Focus charity websites are really helpful for information.

    Hopefully you won't be waiting too long for an appointment and they can put your wife's mind at rest. Good luck and please let us know how she gets on.

    Angie (Stage 3 melanoma patient since 2009)

  • Offline in reply to AngieT

    Thank you so much for your reply Angie. It has actually really helped us both to relax, if only a little. I'm completely with you when it comes to google, it truly is the worst thing. You type in "I've stubbed my toe" and the first 10 pages of results tell you all the ways your head is going to fall off.

    We are very grateful that someone with experience of melanoma replied. Naturally all types of cancer are utterly horrible, and nobody should have to experience them. But of course there are ones that are harder to treat, and we find that we always panic about the worst case senario. 
    So your reply has helped us to step back a bit and think less about worst case scenario. Of course we still have no idea what it is yet, and it could be nothing. But we really appreciate you taking the time to reply, and your kind words.

    As soon as she has been to the dermatologist we will post an update. 
    Thank you again, we wish you the best of luck in your treatment. 
     

    Stuart.

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