Worried about mole

[Nurseybetty]

Hey!

I’m 24, and worried about a mole on my back; it’s grown quite considerably over the last 2 years, changed shape (it now looks like a heart!), darkened but with patchy bits. I had noticed it changing but wasn’t overly worried about it until I was wearing a dress with a low-cut back, and a doctor-friend spotted it and told me to go to the doctor to have it reviewed.

I just feel a little silly going to the doctors about something so tiny as mole, especially when the mole has been there for so long. I feel even more silly because I’m currently under hospital investigations for something seperate, and i’ve been to the GP twice in one month already so I’m feeling like they’re going to start thinking I’m just this neurotic, health-anxious young woman!

I guess what doesn’t help is that I’m a nurse, and all I have in my mind is doctors rolling their eyes about patients who waste their time with (what they sometimes see as) silly problems.

Basically, I’m just looking for someone to help me to man up and practice what I preach!

OP, a doctor has told you to see a doctor. See a doctor!!!

We have modern medicine for a reason. It's probably nothing special after being there for ages, it's not going away by itself. You've earnt the right to get a professional opinion.

Last week I went in for what turned out to be a two minute checkup on a mole. Turns out mine was getting bigger because there was a skin tag inside it (sports bra rubbing on it since I’ve upped exercise). It was still a good thing to get it checked. Dr was fine about it. I fel better knowing. Just get it done x

Are you really a nurse???
If you are then surely you are aware that ‘a tiny thing like a mole’ - especially a mole that has changed - may be a melanoma.
You have been advised by a doctor to get it checked. It’s up to you.

Op please go. I have just had a very similar situation, large mole on my back, had grown and changed. It had been there two years that I was aware of but probably longer. Luckily it was also spotted by a doctor at a social occasion and so I went to the GP who referred me immediately (with a slight look of horror on his face). It turns out it was a malignant melanoma. I’ve had surgery and thankfully it was only at stage 1 but it was growing and if I’d left it it could’ve been a totally different story. So I’m not saying this to scare you but please go first thing Monday morning.

@LovingLola Thanks for that. Yes I am a nurse, and absolutely I know I need to practice what I preach. I wrote here as a safe place to post my feelings anonymously - because sometimes what we logically know and how we feel are two seperate things that need some convergence. I think HCP’s are notorious for being “bad patients” because we know how busy our colleagues are and don’t want to waste time.

I’m a nurse in a very different speciality to anything skin-related and so my mole-knowledge, I admit, is limited and probably the same as anyone else’s.

To everyone else - thank you for your more understanding responses, I’ll make that appointment.