Skin lesion? Scared

[Anonymous1503]

I’ve had a purple looking skin lesion for a few years it hasn’t grown doesn’t hurt etc but stupidly only just got to getting it looked at as when I first noticed it o was grieving and after that I forgot about it. So recently I went to the gp about it and was referred urgently to a dermatologist who saw the photo took by the gp and I was sent for medical photography and the next day I received a call to come in on Tuesday only 5 days (including weekend) for a consultation at the skin clinic at the hospital. I’m worried it’s bad news, is it bad to hear so soon after the photography? And that I’m been seen so fast. And if it is and I’ve had it so long does that mean it’s spread?

sorry if it doesn’t make sense I’ve just had a baby and I’m freaking out a bit. I hope someone can give me some comforting words

Waiting times vary a lot, and you can get called very quickly for something that might be cancer so don't panic. I had a dodgy looking skin lesion recently (it popped up suddenly and was growing alarmingly quickly) and it was dealt with very fast - I can't remember how fast, but I was expecting to wait for several weeks and got a phone call a few days later giving me an appointment in short order. It was excised very soon after that and biopsied. That was that - no further treatment needed other than lots of Vaseline on my nice new scar.

I had the same after a dodgy-looking smear - the GP referred me solely on the basis of what she could see, I was seen by a consultant within a few days, and there was nothing significant wrong at all.

So don't panic. I did with the smear (I am a bit blasé about skin lesions after having had several), and it was a total waste of energy.

Good luck.

I am sorry you are feeling worried about this. In my experience they always like to see these things in person and it is quite usual for that to happen quickly. So at this point please just feel reassured that they are going to see you not worried. They may be able to reassure you on the spot or may take a biopsy to take away and test. No one on here can really say it’s fine/not fine so it’s good you are getting it seen quickly and much much more often than not, it’s not serious. On the rare occasions it is something serious, there are lots of treatment options now. Stay away from Google and try and distract yourself till Tuesday. X

Try not to worry, they normally try to see people quickly. I had a mole the GP referred me to dermatology under the 2 week wait https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-symptoms/what-is-an-urgent-referral
Turned out to be non-cancerous in my case.
I hope you get a good prognosis soon.