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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To ask if you've ever had a mole removed or been referred for a mole?

39 replies

jinglebelly · 30/04/2011 20:44

Sorry for posting in this category but i know it is the busiest! I have a mle on my chest which started to change when i became pregnant a year ago. The doctor told me to keep an eye and over the last week it seems to have grown about 2mm and now has a red spot. The doc said to go back and see him in a month and I am really worried as there is a 3 month waiting list to see a dermatologist at our hospital so that would mean 4 months!

OP posts:

FabbyChic · 30/04/2011 20:45

Go back to your GP as soon as possible as it has now changed.

Have you been sunbathing at all?

thisisyesterday · 30/04/2011 20:47

i would go back to the GP. if they are really worried you will be seen in less than 4 months!
my dad was referred recently for a dodgy looking mole and they'd whipped it off within a week

phdlife · 30/04/2011 20:48

yep, if it's changed you need to go back. specialists here triage their waiting lists; if they do that there you might get to queue-jump. good luck.

maGicGift · 30/04/2011 20:48

If its changed you can be refered under the 2 week rule, which means you have to be seen within that time limit, I've just been seen for the same reason and am now having it removed within a 4 week time limit - even though the consultant thinks its fine, just to be cautious.. so, go back to your GP for a referral.

cookcleanerchaufferetc · 30/04/2011 20:48

Take a photo of it now so you can compare it later ... Put a ruler next to it. This will give the doctor a better picture. Have you tried calling for a cancellation appointment?

Original poster

jinglebelly · 30/04/2011 20:48

I did go back and he told me to wait a month and see how it goes. No, not really sunbathing, i am very careful in the sun but it may have caught some rays by accident.

OP posts:

Original poster

jinglebelly · 30/04/2011 20:50

Does anyone know how fast it spreads if it is malignant?

OP posts:

maGicGift · 30/04/2011 20:52

there wont be a 4 month wait if your GP is concerned, as I said, he can refer you to see a consultant with the 2 week rule, but he has to be concerned about it (you could always say its become itchy to speed thongs up!)

maGicGift · 30/04/2011 20:52

or things up even!

LittleWhiteWolf · 30/04/2011 20:53

I had a mole removed when I was about 11...I think. It was on my back so I never really saw it, but it had gone really, really dark which looked particularly dark against my white skin, so as a precaution it was removed.
Definitely get to your GP as you're clearly worried.

sailorsgal · 30/04/2011 20:53

I would ask your gp to refer you to see a dermatologist privately. It would probably cost you about £150. if he/she thinks it needs to be removed you could get the treatment on the NHS.

AmazingBouncingFerret · 30/04/2011 20:53

I had a huge mole on my chin removed. It took about three weeks from first seeing my doctor to getting the outpatient appt for removal. Am convinced now that actually all that was wrong was I had a nasty spot in the same place!

Get a second opinion.

rasta · 30/04/2011 20:54

See another GP for a 2nd opinion. Sending you away to wait a month is shocking and irresponsible IMO

I'm covered in moles and have had several removed. It was fine Try not to worry about it but do get it checked out and push for a referral.

heliumballoons · 30/04/2011 20:54

Yes, I had one on my face which changed and then started to bleed. I saw the GP and was referred to dermotologist. As it was a bleeding mole I got an apt in a week. It fell off 2 days before I went. Apart from a 'hole' in my face its all fine. Dermo said I could go straight back if it grew again.

I also have 2 on my tummy that are changing getting black spots on them. I got them checked (superdrug I think) and they can use a special instrument to look at it closer. They told me these 2 were fine but check with GP if I was worried. I haven't btw as they haven't changed anymore.

maGicGift · 30/04/2011 20:54

if its malignant, generally they become itchy, crusty, red, sometimes weeping. they have a jagged edge and become much darker under the redness, this would be a gradual process over weeks/months

CaptainKirksNipples · 30/04/2011 20:54

I have had one mole cut off my foot and one under observation on my chest. They both became darker around the time I was pregnant and I got obsessed with it while breastfeeding as I was looking at it all the time!

I had the one taken off my foot as it was in an awkward place for me to keep an eye on, and the other one on my chest has been photographed and kept on file. Neither were cancerous but my sister and dad have both had malignant melanomas removed and my aunt currently has a few months to live. Because of the family history of skin cancer I am very wary of changes but I have been lucky so far.

I was seen very quickly after seeing the doctor, you need to make an emergency appointment and ask to be referred to a dermatologist asap. I imagine the act faster with skin cancer than they would with acne so the average waiting list time may not be accurate.

pinkteddy · 30/04/2011 20:55

I've had three removed altogether. Two at same time and then another about 10 years later. They were all removed within about 4 weeks of seeing the GP (including visit to consultant), although none were malignant.

TrinityRhino · 30/04/2011 20:56

I had a 1 cm size mole removed from my right breast when I was 22

it was fine

Morebounceperounce · 30/04/2011 20:57

I've had two moles removed at local GP surgery that does minor procedures every couple of weeks. Waiting time was only three or four weeks and I was a non-urgent case (wanted moles removed due to concerns about changes rather than actual changes). They were still sent off for testing to see if they were benign/malignant.

Maybe ask if any practices within your local GP group offer this? Fingers crossed for you.

FessaEst · 30/04/2011 20:58

My DH had a mole on his lower abdo that changed a bit, got more defined edges and changed colour. GP referred him to a rapid access clinic where it was scanned and deemed to be ok to watch. When it got even bigger he was referred back, it was removed about 10 days later.

Waiting so long seems a bit odd, I would go for a second opinion.

Nagoo · 30/04/2011 20:58

I had one removed and it was all seen and done in about 4 days.

(the consultant was very underwhelmed, but said since he was there he'd take if off anyway

I'd go back and hurry them along since you are so worried.

NulliusInVerba · 30/04/2011 20:59

The change in colour could well be pigment changes caused by your pregnancy.

There is, at the moment the two week rule and the doctor can get you seen much quicker if there is a problem.

MarisCrane · 30/04/2011 21:00

I have lots of moles, had one particular one on my shoulder that stayed the same for years. One day I noticed it had gone red and I watched it for a month or so. I eventually went to the doctor. She referred me on the 2 week list and I saw the dematologist the following week.
He said it was 'a suspicious lesion' and they removed it that same day! That was a shock. The results came back as a superficial spreading melanoma in situ (the best kind if you must have a melanoma....) and I then had to have a wider excision once the first wound had healed. I've also had another mole removed since.
So please please get it checked out, please. Feel free to ask me anything and I'll do my best to help.

LisaD1 · 30/04/2011 21:04

My nan died from an undiagnosed malignant melanoma, she was a sun goddess and a mole on back when un-noticed until too late, as such I am a panicker about moles that change. I had one removed last year because it had got darker, nothing wrong with it at all. Was all done in around a week.

HockSpotter · 30/04/2011 21:08

Not me personally but my ex-p had a mole on his leg that was itchy so he went to the doctors and got a hospital app within 2 weeks. The doctor he saw really wasn't worried about it, said it was just procedure to get these things checked. I am in Scotland though so that might make a difference, i know sometimes things are done differently here.

I would get a 2nd opinion. It isn't the kind of think to take a chance on.

Good luck.

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