Recalled after a mole scan.

[WantingToEducate]

Om Monday of this week (4 days ago) I had a mole check after being referred by the GP.

I was seen at a small, local hospital by a nurse (I assume it was a nurse but it could have been a HCA) who just filled in some forms and then used a mobile phone to take some photos of the mole, followed by more photos with the use of a magnifying glass type of device.

These images were then emailed over to a Dermatologist to look at and this type of diagnostic procedure is the ‘done thing’ these days to improve waiting lists.

Anyway, the woman who was dealing with me said the main hospital would contact me in 2 weeks.

Yet today, just 4 days later, I’m sitting here with a letter in my hand asking me to attend a Dermatology Appointment in their clinic in 11 days.

I am now absolutely terrified that I’ve got skin cancer.

Has anyone else been in this kind of situation??

Hi OP,
I have recently been in a similar situation, I've a lump on my face, initially had a phone appointment with GP where i was prescribed antibiotics (for blocked tear duct which it wasn't). Saw GP in person two weeks later, next day got a phone call with an MRI scan appointment for two days later, I was petrified!
Had a dermatology appointment a week after the result came back and am having a biopsy next week.
I think a lot of the speed is meeting the two week wait target. I thought the dermatology appointment was the biopsy as GP said she was referring me for one but it was more a 'someone has seen you within two weeks' type of thing, was in there max five minutes.
Good luck OP, hopefully they are just being cautious. 💐

And I really thought I'd put paragraphs in that 🤦

Yes. I've just had 2 moles excised. I say moles but one looked like a sun spot and the other was a BCC. I haven't had the results yet but the plastic surgeon who carried out the procedures didn't think they were dangerous. Said he took out hundreds of these and the MIGHT become a problem if left.
This was all within 3 weeks. Sitting here right now with plasters on the wounds which I can remove tomorrow.

Earlier this year I noticed a strange spot/lump on my head. saw practise nurse who called GP into the room to check it. Was told that a referral would be made under the 2 week wait.
Saw dermatologist within two weeks. Had it removed (curettage and cautery) two weeks later. Test results came back clear

If its a suspected bcc my GP told me I could probably live with it for 30 years before it caused any issues. My GP was actually very plain taking and told me he was 99% mine was a bcc. Had it taken out and it was just a dermatofibroma.

So all this to say that even if it is skin cancer it isn't necessarily anything serious or scary. Waiting for results sucks though.

I think I’m just worried because the first woman I saw, who took the photos, told me I would just get a letter in two weeks time and so to suddenly get this letter has made me nervous. The letter was written the day after my photos were taken.

The mole is pale in colour, is symmetrical, doesn’t have jagged edges and is pretty much flush with the skin I.e not raised.

Over the last 6 months or so I have just noticed that I have episodes where it feels like it tingles. I can’t use the word itching because it doesn’t itch as such and the tingling never reaches a point where I feel like I have to scratch it. The tingling episodes only occur about once weekly and they last under a minute.

It isn’t red or crusty and the skin is smooth.

I have never really been concerned about this mole before and I only went to the GP because my dad said his friend had been referred for a suspicious mole….and so I thought I’d get mine looked at just to be sensible.

And now this happened and it feels like something bad is happening and it’s spiralling 😢

To be honest I don't think you should be worried. It doesn't have any of the risk markers (uneven shape and colour etc). They are just being extra cautious.

It might just be that wait times are shorter than expected or the images weren’t clear enough for the dermatologist

Thank you both - the lady who was taking the images was struggling a little…she never seemed happy with the image she captured and kept trying to get a better one.

I’ve had two moles removed before but that was 20 years ago and purely preventative. Those moles were much larger and had jagged edges, they were dark brown/black in colour and there were also some bumpy areas. I told all this to the lady I saw so maybe this has made them be more cautious?

I am also really fair, pale skin and blonde hair etc and I know they say that’s a risk factor too.

Im trying not to worry but I can be prone to anxiety and I’m always imagining the worst case scenarios.

You might have had a quick recall because the photo quality was bad so the consultant wanted to see if for himself. Or it could just be the summer holidays and they don't have a backlog!

Honestly, looking at your pic I would not be in any way worried about that. And I am a worrier.

It's only a dermatologist really who can tell you if it's sinister or not. Doesn't mean it's bad news, they will just check with the proper equipment.
Normally a gp referral is straight to a dermatologist not a nurse.
Nothing to worry about it's normal procedure

The GP referred me to the local hospital where they run a clinic for mole images to be taken and this is what the standard procedure is in my County.

Nobody gets referred straight to Dermatology and the referral goes directly to the imaging clinic.

It was explained to me that the images are then sent to a Dermatologist (as is the same with every patient’s images) for the pictures to be analysed with some kind of DERM technology they use.

I was told that in most cases the patient will get a letter 2-3 weeks later to say the dermatologists are not concerned and so no follow-up is needed, or if the images are concerning the Dermatologist will write to the patient within 3 days to arrange a face to face appointment in their clinic.

According to the clinic’s data, over 70% of the patients don’t even have to see a dermatologist as the analysed images show there is nothing of concern.

But clearly I’m not in that percentage group 😢

Please try not to worry OP.

I was referred to Dermatology under the 2 week rule for a suspicious mole. It looked much more asymmetrical and discoloured than yours.

At my Dermatology appointment, the consultant and I were chatting about how busy they were. I work in medical negligence and he was joking that it was my fault! GPs are so scared of getting sued, they are referring every mole they see! 90% of the moles referred to Dermatology are absolutely fine.

I got a call a week after my excision to say that it was malignant melanoma. Big shock. Had to go back for a further excision to make sure they'd got all the cells. They'd caught it very early... grade 1A. They use the Breslow thickness score and mine was only 0.3mm deep.

I was a bit concerned for a while but since then I've had no problems. I have an annual mole check where my body is photographed and the computer checks for any changes. I'm confident that any other bad moles will be caught early. I'm also a lot more aware of staying protected from the sun now.

The chances are that your mole will be fine and, even if it is not, it can be removed and you'll be monitored in future.

This is what it looked like..

Very minimal scar... and it's all gone 😀

Thank you PinotPony

I had one removed from my wrist when I was 14 and it looked quite similar to your photograph except it was very lumpy and much darker. It covered the diameter of my wrist so I had to have it excused over 4 different procedures because it was too big to be removed all in one go otherwise I would have needed a skin graft. I’ve got a rather large scar from it 😬

Ive also had one removed from my right shoulder blade when I was 17 and that was very dark but completely circular and sightly raised off my skin. That one was whipped off with one swipe of a blade and it barely left a scar.

Thank you for our reassurance - I always hear horror stories about moles and melanomas and I just a bit anxious.

This is my scar….

On MN the stories are usually from a person who pointlessly worried & had nothing scary at all in the end.

In my extended family stories we've had BCC (on repeat) & melanoma and ... they weren't scary either. Just removed the dodgy area & carried on. One redhead aunt had quite a bit removed & that meant surgery, which she had to wait some months to get the area patched. The wait/open weird-looking area was the only difficult thing.

I work in dermatology and would say please don’t be worried :) It is just the way appointments are allocated. I have seen lots of worried people because where I work they sometimes get appointments couriered to them the night before. I think your photo looks like a dermatofibroma. They might still remove but please please don’t worry.

Thank you so much. I know you can’t give me any ‘definites’ without actually having seen it in person (and providing you actually are a dermatologist), but I do feel reassured by your post. 😂

Must be different procedures everywhere!
I work in a clinic and mole images get sent to our doctor all the time but he who specialises in this area with the proper equipment to check it (just like a dermatologist) can only give you the answer in person.
Please don't worry I bet you will be absolutely fine xx

Thank you for that.

Ironically I was just talking to one of my neighbours and she had a healing wound on her face and when I asked what it was she said she’d had a mole removed last week at the same clinic I’ve been referred
to.

She’d never had any concerns about this mole, in fact she’d thought it was just a freckle and it was only when her GP asked her about it, at a totally unrelated appointment, that all this has since happened.

She’d had her photos taken at the same hospital I’d initially been referred to and she said the Dermatologist called her the next day and asked her to come in. She had the mole removed during that appointment and just has to go back every 3 months for further checks.

She was very calm and nonchalant about it all so that’s helped too.

Maybe I am worrying too much about this…

I'm off to dermatology tomorrow morning for someone to look at mine (face). I do feel a bit worried about it - it's very very dark and at first I thought it was a blackhead but it's grown and just doesn't look like anything else on my skin.

So GP has referred me on the two week path and I"m having it looked at in the morning. Shitting myself as it's been there nearly a year and I kept thinking 'I must get that looked at' but life got in the way.

On the flip side, it's tiny - a freckle and I only noticed it because I was using one of those tweezerman 10x mirrors to do my eyebrows.

I'll keep you posted.

I had a mole removed a few years ago, and was told I would get a letter with the biopsy results, unless they need me to come in. A few weeks later I got a call asking me to go in so I was convinced it was cancer.

What made it worse was when I arrived, they kept me waiting for ages, and having had cancer before, it felt like deja vu.

Turned out the cells were unusual (but not at all cancerous) and they wanted to excise more to ensure they removed the entire mole.

Good luck today 🤞