May have skin cancer, am very scared and don't know what to do

[mytitiferssungtheirsong]

Just come back from the doctors to check a mole in my head area. He felt it was a worrying shape, size and colour and will refer me for a biopsy. He was one of those 'call a spade a spade' doctors which is fine and appreciated but he seemed pretty clear that he thought it could very likely be melanoma/skin cancer..gosh don't even know what is what of those two?

Have been googling and seen depressing figures like survival rates of 5 or 10 years!!! Am only 40!!

The big problem is he said I could get a referral within 2 weeks for biopsy etc but have a holiday booked with dd next week and meant to be going for 3 weeks! I am not sure I can go on holiday with this hanging over me so considering cancelling it. Also part of me thinking if it is cancer then maybe I should go off and have a good time (dd is a toddler so won't know either way if we go or not).

Sorry, just so confused and shocked right now, thinking if I had spotted it earlier (been there for a while but only recently noticed shape change) etc.

Can I go private and get biopsy done even quicker? It is just the waiting that is awful. Tbh when he showed me the close up photo of the mole it does look bloody awful. Am terrified I am riddled with cancer now.

Am I being stupid and overreacting? Anyone been through this?

Thank you

yes, you could get a private removal/biopsy quicker, but it's pricey.
but do call skin clinics (harley street ones?) ask for appointments/prices. (often they don't offer the prices in advance).

hope you have got travel insurance in case you need to cancel your holiday.

There's no need to panic. My mole ticked all of the dodgy boxes.

I had a biopsy. It was all clear, but they removed it to be on the safe side. Painless and quick. The specialist reassured me completely.

A close up would look 'bloody awful'!
Get an appointment and go and enjoy your holiday. Try not to panic. It has been there for a while already as you say.

Find out how much it is to go private, how quickly they can schedule you in and crucially how quickly they will have your results. Then make a decision re holiday. If it can be put back a week or so until after your results it might make for a less stressful holiday!

Don't forget the doctor's opinion is just one person's opinion, rather thoughtlessly put. (When I went recently with a mole the GP said ah - I've just been on a course on moles somehow didn't inspire confidence!)

If it was me I think I'd be throwing money at it to get an aswer asap but of course it depends how much. And you might find the NHS appointment comes up more quickly than two weeks.

Good luck.

And I've had a few bopsies on moles including one where they cut a big chunk of my shoulder out with it.

All fine.

I wouldn't panic - I have had two alarming looking ones removed, and neither of them showed signs of malignancy.

Go on holiday and take plenty of sunscreen

thank you, am so confused...I've calmed down a bit now...wondering if I should go anyway, been really looking forward to it!! I could possibly cut my holiday short ie go and then come back when I get my appointment...I did have one cut out from a similar place around 10 years ago and that one was fine. However this one looks a lot nastier. I am thinking of going now and then coming back as soon as I get my appointment...even if it costs a bit more. They said possibly an appointment within a week, could be two. I might as well be somewhere nice while I am waiting? This one is quite wide, a very irregular shape and different colours, can't believe I did not have it checked earlier.

I went through similar 2 years ago, I had a large mole on my back, have been keeping a eye on it for year then Gp suddenly decided to take a biopsy which I had done in the surgery, whilst doing the biopsy he took away part of the mole thinking that all would be fine and biopsy will be fine, week later I get asked to go to the hospital ( plastic surgeon ) to have the remainder of the mole removed but was told 'not to panic'. Luckily it was not cancer but it could have progressed into cancer, I had it removed ( took quite a while and I have a huge scar ), have now been told to stay out of the sun because I'm high risk.

A year later my dad had skin cancer ( also on his back ), it was removed and required no further treatment.

I've had many moles removed over the years that presented a bit funny. 2 were fine, one (in last 2 months) was not cancer but was considered atypical and one that was indeed a melanoma.

Because of where it was I didn't notice my very nasty mole until it was fairly big (size of small finger nail) so God knows how long it had been there and it was several months until I showed it to dermatology in my usual clinic appointment & they chopped it out prompto there and then. They revised the area a month later & it came back clear.

I should add that I am considered very high risk as I've had loads of light treatment for psoriasis over the years and take meds that also increase my risk :) the bugger hasn't got me just yet!!

Thank you. This is bigger than a small nail. More a thumb nail!!! It's huge really. I feel sick at the thought of cancelling longed for trip but sick at the thought of not getting the news asap. I have decided not to go and to focus on this now. I just don't think I could focus on anything else tbh.

Have you got holiday insurance? If so you maybe able to get your money back and take dd on holiday after you get the biopsy results ?

Most skin cancers are slow spreading, and a lot of dodgy moles are not even cancerous. Could you call the hospital and ask them to call you if there's a cancellation, if you explain your situation then they maybe able to squeeze you in sooner.

Please don't worry though, chances are it's nothing and even if it is something then most of the time it is easily dealt with. I have a mole I need checking out, I know it has grown and will probably need removing, I have a feeling one day it will be skin cancer ( not helped by the fact my GP said I am high risk ).

thanks for the handholding earlier. I have decided to cancel my trip as I have been told I will likely get an appointment within the week and right now this is my focus.

Having looked closely at my mole and looked at pictures etc I am pretty sure it fits all the criteria of being melanoma which as I understand means cancer. I guess the good news is that it is completely flat ie no raised bumps which means it might not be the most severe type clutching at straws . I know there is no point in self diagnosing but I guess it makes me feel better. It is around 1/2 inch, maybe slightly smaller, in diameter so no idea why I had not thought to have it looked at earlier!!

Thanks for all the positive stories everyone.

oh an no holiday insurance, not sure why as I took it on my last trip as I always thought it would be dd coming down with something. Not a hideous amount of money, around £150 for the flight, as a LP can't really afford to loose it but at the same time I am not really going to cry over split milk on this one. I can live with the loss and if I can get seen next week it feels more important than trip that can be rebooked at some point in future. Should get taxes back anyway.

OP it really is not as straightforward as that - moles very often show all the danger signs for melanoma - enlargement, asymmetry, mix of colours etc - but are not actually malignant. All fitting the criteria means is that there is a greater than normal risk of malignancy - not that there is definitely malignancy. The same as how not all breast lumps are actually cancerous. You cannot tell until a trained person looks at a sample of the lesion under the microscope.

Look at the images of the lesions at the bottom of the page here - they look serious as all shit, but none of them are cancerous.

I am a bit worried that you are sitting at home diagnosing yourself and getting into a state thinking you are going to die when there is absolutely no reason to panic yet. Are you normally over-anxious over health things?

Glad to hear you've got an appointment soon. And I think it's sensible to postpone your trip - much better to
go when you can relax a bit!

Don't forget that "fitting all the criteria of" doesn't mean "is" melanoma. And having looked at the nhs info on it (which I'm sure you have) there's no reason to feel too negative about things.

Keep us posted.....

Cross post phyllis! Yes that's exactly what I meant. Have just been on a thread with a poster who had convinced herself that a 1:27 risk of downs syndrome was almost a certainty - based on a lot of sitting at home looking at the internet and stewing on things!

Agree with previous two posters it may well not be melanoma and if it is there is a very good chance once removed no more treatment will be needed. Caught early it's a very easy cancer to treat, my mum had a melanoma and other than removing it there was no further treatment required and she just has 3 monthly checks for any other dodgy moles.

I hope your appointment comes through quickly I remember waiting to get an appointment at the breast clinic to have a lump checked was absolute torture.

Don't panic, honestly. And step away from google!!

I have dozens of moles and over the years I've had probably 12 biopsies. Most were fine -- including one that my dermatologist later told me she was pretty sure would turn out cancerous. But that's why they do the biopsies, because visual diagnosis is impossible. As people have said, a mole can tick all the boxes and still be fine.

You especially should not worry because a GP thinks it looks bad. Even dermatologists who do only this for a living cannot tell from looking at it alone.

Some of my biopsies came back precancerous, including one that was 'aggressively atypical'. But even this is not really a big deal, it doesn't mean it will definitely turn into cancer.

Even if, worst case scenario, it is melanoma, that is still not necessarily very dramatic. If caught early the survival rate is something like 95 percent. Those figures you're citing are for when it is caught very late. The chances of this are slim.

It's normal to be worried but do try not to panic and let it take over your life. The odds that anything are seriously wrong are incredibly small, try to keep that in mind.

Thanks guys. No I am trying not to panic Feeling a bit better now that I've had time to digest it. We've just had another cancer scare in the family so maybe a bit sensitive at the mo.

I still feel I did the right thing cancelling my trip as hopefully I can get result much sooner and know what I'm dealing with.

Probably quite normal to feel in a panic when the doctor looks all severe when he looks at your mole!!

Really appreciate all the positive stories on here and no,ImI'm definitely not over anxious about medical things but had a tough two years with lots of other things so my initial reaction was 'oh great, and to top it all off I have cancer'!

Feeling calmer now. Thank you.

Thanks for the link Phyllis...mine looks like top right so just goes to show as you say not all dodgy ones are cancer!

Aww op try not to worry

I had a dodgy looking mole, was fine

Hello again, just wanted to come back and thank all lovely MNetters for hand holding when I first suspected I had a dodgy mole. Results are now back and it was indeed melanoma!

Thankfully they feel that by taking another 1 cm of skin out (they already took quite a bit) they will drastically reduce my chances of it returning. Obviously feels a bit odd as I have just been told I have had cancer ie I HAD cancer and now it is gone but I haven't even ever known that I HAD cancer if that makes sense! Sorry a bit all over the place here...It will take a while to sink in.

But I feel positive, the Dr feels I caught it in time, I will have regular checks and like I say a further op to remove more skin around the area. I feel like it was caught in time.

Thanks again for support and I guess just to say if you do feel that you have a strange mole, please get it checked out.

My dad has had exactly this and the follow up has been wonderful. He is seen and fully checked very regularly. He's now less likely than me or anyone else to have anything go in noticed. Hopefully you will get the same follow up. It's very reassuring.

Glad you are ok. Indeed a bit of an odd one to process.