Feel sick, letter from hospital after biopsy, does this mean I have it?

[Usgvgs]

I can’t get through to the hospital or my GP. Been trying all day after getting a letter today.

I had a mole removed from my back in the middle of September. Today I have a letter asking me to attend an appointment on 6th November. Nothing explained in the letter no mention of results. I am a lone parent and have no support I am terrified about what this could mean for my very young child.

Please can anyone help? I don’t have the NHS app and have tried calling the GP to see if they’ve had anything back. The letter says it I cannot attend and don’t tell them then I may not be offered another appointment and will be referred back to my GP. I feel sick and so scared and alone.

I have had melanoma - and as a previous poster with advanced melanoma said, there is lots of treatments and survival rates are high so please don’t panic even if worst case. Other skin cancers are less serious and even more easily treated.

I really hope it’s just a wound check but realise it must be worrying.

I had a lump removed from my gum and got a follow up appointment, and like you was worried. Only to find out that there was no issues with the lump but the tests there did at the time showed I had a mouth fungus (yep that’s how she described it) and I need to take horrible almond tasting liquid for two weeks.

It only shows appointments from the day you download the app, it doesn’t go backwards in time.

If it was precancerous or early, chances are they would just remove the mole. I had a mole removal last year and it’s a very simple local anaesthetic operation, took 30 mins and healed within 3 weeks.

Life threatening skin cancers are very rare, survival rates are extremely high.

When I had a mole removed my letter told me it was cancerous and I needed to come in for more excisions.

in my experience they are very blunt and to the point

My DH had a mole removed , it was fine, but he also had a follow up appointment to give him the results and to check the wound.
Waiting for any results is so stressful OP. Even more so when you have a young child. If it helps my friend has a predisposition to skin cancers and has had many pre cancerous moles removed, she has to use a cream and be checked every six months, every now and again she will need a mole taken off, but because she is watched carefully she is totally fine after over twenty years of this.

i’m like you, op, it’s so hard not to worry. i did have cancer but honestly the absolute worst part of it was before the diagnosis. it took literally months and during that time i was planning my funeral and trying to work out finances for my children and family. eventually i had a biopsy and was told to call for results if i hadn’t heard anything in two weeks, which i did, only to be told (on a friday lunchtime) that the results line was closed, try again monday. the next day i got a letter from THE ROYAL MARSDEN saying come to the sarcoma
clinic next friday. honestly it was terrible.

however, once i got to that clinic and they broke the news and made a plan it was really all fine. i had surgery the following week and radiotherapy a couple of months after that. i can’t say any of it was fun but really the absolute worst part was before the diagnosis. at that point everything is unknown - you suspect something bad but you have no idea how bad. i knew of course that worrying was pointless and i admire people who can just not worry. i’m not one of them. whatever is going on, you will know next week and then whatever it (if it is something at all) is will be dealt with.

i had a rare and aggressive cancer but i’m still here nearly seven years on. it probably won’t be as bad as you are imagining. but you have my absolute sympathies, i know how horrible this stage is. and the chances are it will probably be fine. keep your nerve x

If you were started on a 2 week pathway appointments including follow ups have to happen within a certain time whether it’s bad news or not. So try not to think the worst. In my experience if they have something awful to tell you then they wouldn’t make you wait that long. Skin cancer is one of the most treatable and survivable cancers you can get. I hope it works out well for you ❤️

Try not to panic. If it was a melanoma I would think you would have been called much sooner.
When I attended the breast clinic because of redness and firmness I noticed I was being treated differently to the other women there. They asked if I had come alone, and at the end of my mammogram and biopsies I was asked to have a chat with the MacMillan nurse. And this was before my biopsy results. I was given an appointment for results before I left the clinic, and from the results clinic I was on chemo within 10 days. I had actually booked a private consultation with a consultant because my breast clinic referral was taking so long, and the consultant told me within minutes it was almost certainly inflammatory breast cancer.
My point is that if there is something to worry about, they usually move fast. Sometimes biopsy results can be a shock, but often an experienced doctor has a strong suspicion with what they are dealing with. The problems happen when they dismiss people for being too young etc and don’t bother referring them to be checked.
Even if it does turn out to be unwelcome news, other pp’s are correct in that there are fantastic treatments now with high survival rates. 20 years ago my type of breast cancer was almost always fatal.
I wish you the very best, and please try not to worry 💕

I’m currently under investigation for melanoma. I’ve had a biopsy and whilst I had a biopsy I was told to book an appointment with the consultant for two weeks time to discuss results. The consultant was the one who performed my biopsy and this is standard (to give results face to face). He said when he got the sample it’s something but he’s not worried. I am having this done privately though and my biopsy was of the nail, so more involved, hence he also needs to check the wound and nail bed has healed properly in a couple of weeks.

To reassure you - the vast majority of melanomas are caught at early stages with excellent prognosis. People are also given an early follow up appt with melanoma in situ - this is essentially pre melanoma which sits in top layer of skin so can’t have spread as the top layer of skin has no blood vessels or lymphatics xx

surely if it was something requiring further treatment they wouldn't say that if you fail to attend or rearrange they will simply bump.you.off the service.?

Saw this and wanted to share my two cents. I don’t think you need to worry. I was on a fast track pathway and had various investigations and scans done and the nurse called me to say I was being sent back to my GP and they‘d follow up in a short while. I don’t think you ought to be worried about your results. If you were seriously ill then a no-show wouldn’t get you sent back to the GP. Wishing you all the very best 💐

You will still get a follow up sometimes, even if it's nothing. At least you only have to wait about 9-10 days! I'm sure it will be fine. Good luck!

OP, earlier this year I had a brief neurological issue. I had to have a load of blood tests, scans etc. I had an appointment through with the consultant after all the tests were completed and was told everything looked completely normal.

Just to reassure you that consultants sometimes do book in appointments just to give you the all clear.

I was waiting for results recently. Really hard but decide there is no problem unless you are told there is a problem. Try to get it right out of your head.

A few years back I went on two week pathway and had a scan. I was called back to be told it was nothing. No one on here can give you a definitive answer. Good luck OP.

My honest thought is that it's probably not nothing, because if it was you'd most likely just get a letter with the negative results... or not hear anything. That's how it was for me, I had to chase my results.

However, I doubt it's anything super bad like advanced melanoma either. Normally, they have a very good idea prior to biopsy. Did they give any indication of what they thought it was? I think everything would be moving more quickly if it was something like that.

I think most likely it's pre-cancerous or early local cancer and they may want to take broader margins, do a skin check for other other suspicious moles, and maybe book you in for yearly skin checks.

I had a mole thing removed. Then had an appointment through they just want to discuss results mine was nothing so don’t read into the letter. Just attend the appointment

I had a follow up appointment after having a mole removed. It was all fine thankfully. Apparently the consultant removing the mole had seen other moles that looked unusual so had arranged a follow up appointment to double check. They were normal though and hadn't changed since I was young. I was panicking when I saw the appointment too - I don't know why the consultant didn't just ask me about them at the time! Try not to worry as it doesn't necessarily mean the worst.

They always book a follow up appointment a couple of weeks after in my experience. Whatever the results. So it means nothing at all.

Hello Op. I’m here for solidarity and to offer a handhold. I had a mole taken off my leg on Monday. It’s been sent away for testing. I was told it was going to be a punch biopsy but when the consultant saw it (different consultant to my first appt) he said he would do a full incisional biopsy which makes me worried that he thought it was indeed something bad. So I’m waiting for results in terror too. You are not alone and whatever it is, a plan will be made and it will be dealt with xx

This. I, and 4 people close to me have had tests and scans for things this past 2 years, (5 of us in total.) All but one was called in by the consultant to discuss the results. Only one had positive/bad results. The other 3 had nothing to worry about. The 5th person had a letter with good news/negative results. So some consultants do call people in anyway, even if it's good news/nothing to worry about.

The 10 day wait is the worst! When I had a similar situation, I called up and tried to get an answer but no-one had the information, only the consultant.

One way to get through it (it worked for me), was to say every night before bed that I wouldn't know tomorrow so no point stressing. Of course this only works up to the night before the appointment!

I would say, if you turn up and see the MacMillan nurse in the meeting with your consultant, you know it's something. Also if they utter the word 'plan'. But the NHS seem to be very good at pathways for cancer and get on it very efficiently if it should turn out to need treatment.

Honestly, if it were cancerous and they were not sure they had got all of it, they would not be able to threaten to bump you back to your GP for failing to attend a routine follow up. They probably want to check healing, check if any other skin lesions are bothering you and depending on risk perhaps offer you an annual skin check for monitoring.

I was in the same position as you. I got a phone call on a Friday night at 7pm asking me to come for an appointment after a biopsy. The person on the phone could not tell me why so I was panicking all weekend. I managed to get hold of the consultant on the Monday who said it was nothing to worry about, they just hadn't got the margins required when removing it to fully test the mole so had to go back and get more removed and and the results were all fine.