You are "too young" for it be cancer

An acquaintance of ours teenage daughter has recurring skin cancer. Your Dr is being negligent and ignorant. Demand a proper referral or go get a second opinion elsewhere.

Get a second opinion op. I had something similar and luckily my GP made the referral straight away. It took a while to be seen and biopsied but it did indeed turn out to be a basal cell carcinoma. I had it removed at a clinic very easily and was in and out within about an hour. I have no idea why a GP would change their mind like that, surely if there’s any doubt you’d err on the side of caution. Being too young is a ridiculous reason to prevent further investigation.

I would insist on an urgent appointment - melanoma cancer can spread very quickly.

Like others I would also pay, which is frustrating as you shouldn’t have to. My husband had a mole removed due to melanoma when he was 23, so he now has yearly skin mapping (he is very moley).

I would pay for a private dermatologist appointment and get a second opinion from someone who knows what they're doing. This is what you need to do in this country, take your health in your own hands

If you have had a new mole appear in the last month which has changed already I would go back for a second opinion at the GP if you cannot afford a private dermatologist

I understand most UK doctors are utterly hopeless at recognizing skin cancer. even specialists can't always tell without a biopsy. I would, in your circumstances, do everything possible to get a second opinion or go privately to a dermatologist. The GP sounds particularly thick. Twenty nine is not particularly young for a skin cancer.

Doctors aren't necessarily experts.
My husband was concerned about a mole on his back, he went to the doctor who checked him over. He was very concerned about the mole so got him a quick appointment with a specialist.
Turns out the mole that my husband and doctor were concerned about was completely harmless, but the specialist was worried about another mole on my husband's back, that had been missed by the doctor.
A biopsy was done and it was cancerous.
Always get a second opinion if in doubt.

Can you get a private consultation? That will give you peace of mind although it can be pricey:

I would book a private appointment if you can afford it. I recently did this to get something looked at (a bump, not a mole) and they cut it off there and then and sent it off for testing. It was £500 (in an expensive part of London so I imagine it might be cheaper elsewhere). I didn’t even bother going to my GP because I knew it would be fairly pointless and I wasn’t willing to worry about it for months (or years!).

I would make an appointment to see a Dermatologist privately, OP.

Which region do you live in?

I would ask (insist) your GP to send an Advice and Guidance request with photo's to the dermatology department. It will be assessed by them and they can advise your GP if it should be an urgent suspected cancer referral (used to be called 2WW but recently changed). The A&G request will very likely be assessed by dermatology much quicker than your appointment in December.

Different climate I know, but in Australia 29 would not be considered 'too young' and the freckle/mole would be removed for a biopsy.

It's really not that expensive for a private mole check. I had one done recently.

Obviously you shouldn't need to but it'll give you an answer either way much quicker. I had mine done at the local private hospital.

I was told by 2 different drs (one with a special interest in dermatology) and a nurse that my mole was absolutely fine.
I demanded it got removed and was told they’d do it but it was a waste of mine and their time.
It was a malignant melanoma. Always trust your gut.

I was 35 and had a a lump that wasn’t breast cancer until 8 months later it was ( all turned out ok it was 20odd years ago) get it checked by boots or private or at least another dr on the surgery

GPs don't know what skin cancer looks like. Do a single mole check - it will be worth every penny.

This ‘too young’ nonsense is what costs lives. If the GP is unsure they should be airing on the side of caution. I’d get a private mole review, personally.

Never too young.

Our local dermatology department allows GPs to send a photo of skin lesions, the dermatologists look at it and decide on how urgently it needs to be seen.

Is that an option?

I was 'too young' for my aggressive breast cancer diagnosis in my early 30s. Demand a referral or ensure the gp writes in your notes why she doesnt think sinister. It most likely is nothing but you still need the correct checks

That's awful. No-one is too young to have cancer. That doctor should NOT be practising at all. You need to take this further @Burntoutmumm

https://www.google.com/goto?url=CAESdQHrOzAViEx_zqM5VuTgQXdFlbS4Y4YxGn1x4iBo5n_6kzpxnvy-gyVLPN4uvu8oyIEkCl9G1Db2WyCJm4z-kfkp6l29cU0rA1yXBAs1e9UCUm2kAXadUe2AdtSdwTIjdRB8OwBHj0HCe8XAXGrmkIhl1a1oBQ

sorry photo didn’t load.

This is the criteria for the 2 week referral( taken from UK guidelines from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence)
If your mole scores the 7points you need an urgent referral.

Keep pushing. I have advanced melanoma (so it’s treatable but incurable with a 50% 10 year survival rate). When I first went to my GP, she laughed at me and said it’s ‘nothing but a sun spot! Wear a hat!’ (no joke, that is actually what’s written in my notes, exclamation points and all).

The vast majority of GPs know jack shit about about skin cancer. I finally pushed for a second opinion with a different GP who has more of a specialist interest in dermatology and she referred me right away. By the time I finally got that referral, it had already metastasised and was stage 3. It spread further after that, which is why it’s now considered ‘advanced’ as inoperable.

The dermatologist I saw initially said it so obviously should have been referred the first time but GPs often have no idea what they’re looking at. They need to refer so can be assessed by a specialist.

Fwiw, I took ds to the same GP surgery, not once, not twice, but three times with the most perfect, textbook bullseye rash, plus high fever, extreme fatigue and joint aches. Like when you google Lyme disease bullseye rash, what we turned up with looked exactly like that, like the size of my hand across his face, and it took three GPs for one of them to actually agree it was Lyme disease and be willing to treat it. 🤷🏻‍♀️ GPs are used to seeing old people with high blood pressure and kids with snotty noses. But they aren’t experts and things like this need to be referred to the ones who are.

Also there is a huge surge in young people with melanoma. I was 42 when I was diagnosed. Never used a sun bed in my life. Never been on a sun holiday where I laid on a sun lounger tanning ever in my life either. I’m in a support group for people with melanoma and there are plenty of people in their 20-40s. It’s actually one of the fastest growing cancers in young adults. There is also paediatric melanoma in children, so really no age limits. Your GP sounds like a moron.

I would seek a second opinion. I had to wait 6 months for a GP to finally agree to refer me. It probably made the difference between stage 1 and stage 3c when I was finally diagnosed.

I would ask for a second opinion from another GP and do make a complaint about the 'too young' remark unless the NICE guidelines also say it is impossible in your age group.