Mole/freckle with white spot on it. Please reassure me. No sinsiter comments please

Sorry Hekett.
I didn’t mean to come across so bitchy to you .
I’m glad you are ok xx

Morning Mittens67.
I wouldn’t have the energy tbh with you .
Like I said 2024 has been a terrible year, not only with the cancer but mental health and separated from partner of 15 years . Possibly about to become homeless so yeah 2024 can do one !
OP try not to worry too much , I’m sure everything will be fine xx

I had a big flat mole for most of my life. It suddenly developed a cross - a totally symmetrical and perfect white cross over the whole thing. My doctor was quite worried, and got me rushed into a clinic to have it removed. It was benign.

“Real” in the skin sense is melanoma, and I’m so sorry for what you have been through.

I don’t think BCC and SCC are classified in the same way as they are a minor inconvenience, not life threatening. My life insurance/critical illness doesn’t count them for example, just to explain.

My minor inconvenience of a small scar pales in comparison to your malignant cancer and it would be insulting me to compare the two!

That is terrible. If you wanted to / had the energy I am sure you would have a good case for medical negligence.
I have melanoma myself and had immunotherapy which also gave me severe colitis which I had to be hospitalised for twice. Luckily for me I tolerated enough of the immunotherapy to work.
There is a vaccine being trialled now, has your oncologist said if this could help you?
My consultant is a national expert and he is running a trial at Southampton. He says it is transforming melanoma outcomes.
Feel free to message me if I can be of any use.
Apols OP for sidelining your question a bit. I think your mole looks fine.

Positive outcome. I had a mole on my face removed this year that looked very similar.** It was a raised mole which would get a dark hair growing out of it. I always plucked the hair out and occasionally it would be a bit ingrown. The mole bled and wept every now and then which I put down to the hair. I went to the doctor only after talking to a couple colleagues who had had a melanoma so thought I best not ignore. Due to the bleeding and change, I was told that it had to come off and it was removed within a month. I was told by my consultant that they were 95% sure that it was normal. The mole was tested and came back all clear. Pretty sure that white spot that I had was an ingrown hair.
I'm glad that you're getting it checked but more than likely it is fine.

Just been on my nhs app and this is what was said after first visit to dermatologist. They cancelled biopsy first time as dermatologist asked for second opinion . That person didn’t deem fit I needed a biopsy.

Thank you Gymrabbit.
Im glad you are knowledgeable on it , us women know our own bodies don’t we and we know when something is not right . I’m glad I persisted for a biopsy xx

You didn’t come across ‘as a cow’ at all. And I see what you mean about people underestimating skin cancer.
so sorry to hear that treatments aren’t working well for you. I don’t trust GPs on skin cancer at all and have made sure I am very knowledgeable as I am quite high risk. It’s shocking that a dermatologist also misdiagnosed you though. X

Sorry I didn’t mean to come across as a cow .
It’s just when I was diagnosed everybody said ‘oh they’ll just cut it out and you’ll be fine’ that wasn’t the case at all with mine .
I’ve also had immunotherapy which didn’t work for me . Had to have it stopped after 1 cycle as I got severe colitis it also paralysed me down my right side .

Sorry to hear about that. hoping you may be able to have immunotherapy or similar. X
not to be indelicate but that is clearly a nodular melanoma whereas the OPs moles would be superficial spreading melanoma (though I’m 99.9%sure they are fine) which are less likely to be serious.

and the person above is right - non melanoma cancers aren’t exactly considered cancers (for example cancer research Uk exclude them from their statistics) as they are so common and so rarely fatal.

Thank you , let’s just say 2024 is not my year !

Ummm, not to be dismissive but if you look at the photo closely there are white spots like on the mole everywhere! It does not look like a remotely dodgy mole, and the Dr said as much recently. This is health anxiety and I hope you find a way to manage it.

I'm so sorry, I hope you're being given appropriate care now. Sending hugs x

It is very rare for an existing mole to become problematic, it is usually a new mole. Try not to worry, the odds are very much in your favour. The GP will nearly always refer to dermatology under the 2 week pathway to be sure.

What would you call ‘real’ cancer? Because to me all types of cancer are real

I have freckles/moles with the white spots in them. I never really noticed them until one of the spots seemed to become a bit raised/more prominent while I was living in Florida for a few months. Like you, I immediately panicked, assumed it was cancerous as it'd been in 40 degree sun daily, and went in a spiral of anxiety. Long story short, it was absolutely nothing. So, don't let this ruin your weekend. Anxiety is a liar and she'll tell you all sorts of fibs. ;)

I have a mole with a white spot in it. It’s just a teeny tiny skin tag on the mole.

Absolutely fine! Neither were melanoma (basal cell and squamous cell). They’re just abnormal cells, nowhere near as serious as what I would call “real” cancer. My consultant said of the BCC that around 1/3 of people will have them, many won’t even realise, and it’s rare they cause a problem, but they’re whipped off when they’re found as a precautionary thing! I literally just had them cut out and stitched and that was it.

I have also had moles exactly like yours and they don’t worry me at all!

Health anxiety is crippling though, but you are fine, and I can say with a reasonable degree of certainty that it is your anxiety causing this, not cancer!

It wasn’t actually painful just itched and bled a lot . But my doctor dismissed it a few times and my dermatologist told me it was an infection (twice) so had 2 lots of antibiotics which delayed everything by 4 weeks then had to beg for a biopsy but glad I did. I won’t add anything else about it as I don’t want to worry OP but I’ve been one of the unlucky ones unfortunately x

Honestly that doesn’t look worrying at all and I’ve had two types of skin cancer.

Its symmetrical, small, non scaly, non shiny, it really looks like a nothing. I wouldn’t even bother the doctor with it and I’m stupidly cautious now. (BCC and SCC)

This is what my melanoma looked like at the start….