Mole referral 2WW

[SB1712]

Hi

I’ve been referred by a nurse practitioner for one of my moles. I was pregnant in 2021 and this mole developed sometime after I had my baby.
It was small at first…I guess its still relatively small (4-5mm) but I thought initially it was a freckle and it’s grown enough for me to notice in the shower. It’s on my torso/stomach near the top.
It’s relatively dark, flat, not itchy but does not have clear borders anymore on one side.

I have health anxiety and am freaking out. I calmed myself down after the referral about a week ago but I’ve just got the letter through the post and it says Skin Cancer (which I understand is what the 2ww is) but seeing it written down is making me spiral.

has anyone else had something similar where it turned out to be okay? Or even if it wasn’t okay, did anyone have any positive outcomes? I am in my early 30’s with a now 3 year old and I am terrified.

Hi @SB1712 , I'm sorry to hear that, it's a rotten time of year to be worrying about anything extra too.

I do have a positive story. I had a new mole on my face, between the bottom of my nose and my top lip. It changed quite slowly but it sounds similar to yours and I also went to get it checked out.

I was told that the referral letter would mention skin cancer but I still got a bit of a scare when I saw the words written down. Anyway off I went to the hospital for a biopsy and it came back as benign - a basal cell carcinoma it's called.

On the subject of the biopsy, I was told by my GP that it would probably be a "punch biopsy" where they would use a special tool to punch the mole out. When I went to the hospital though, they decided to do a "scrape biopsy" instead, where they just kind of scraped the mole right out. It wasn't sore at all (except the local anaesthetic - ouch!) and I was told to just use vaseline to keep the scar soft so it would heal better.

I really hope you have the same outcome. And I know words are cheap, but I always remember someone telling me that worrying about something that we have no control over is "just borrowing trouble from tomorrow".

Thank you so much for your message Carrie it has made me tear up a little.
Yes, not the best time of year for a lot of reasons and I know I don’t help myself with googling and what not.

I think I hadn’t realised the severity of a melanoma and on reading I’ve really got myself worked up into a mess.

I am really glad yours was benign, and I can only pray for the same outcome. It must have been a worry for you too.
I know many other people who wouldn’t bat an eyelid at what I have and people I’ve shown said oh that looks fine/normal or just like something they have. It’s comforting but I worry that with melanomas they can often ‘look’ relatively normal and they’re not.
My appointment is mid Jan, so I have a couple of to wait yet but thank you for sharing your experience as I don’t really know what to expect.

I had an appeared mole of approx 5 months referred under the 2 week suspected cancer pathway in May. A week after my GP appointment it fell off. Seven months later I haven't had a hospital appointment to even advise them it is no longer there.

I was referred twice under the 2WW. My mole changed colour and was bleeding.

When I got home from the GP, the hospital rung me for an appointment on a bank holiday monday 3 days later. was completely terrified and passed that anxiety onto my DH too.

The consultant took one look at it and said it was fine and said the GP should have sent a photo in and they could have saved me a whole lot of worry. Phew.

Please try not to worry. Hope all goes well

Oh bless you @SB1712 , I totally understand the worry - it's awful when you have that out of control feeling about things isn't it?

Mine happened at the tail end of lockdown so things were taking a bit longer than normal to be dealt with, so I'm sure I had about 8 weeks to wait for my result. On the plus side, I was able to hide my scar behind a face mask, because I said to DH that it looked like someone had stubbed a cigarette out on my face!

I hope you get a positive outcome too, and please update your thread when it's all done if you remember, because I'll be thinking about you 🤗

I had a large mole removed earlier this year (2cm across) under 2 week referral - it was harmless.
My friend had one at a similar time - it was malignant. Called back in they whipped off a bit more skin. Discharged with no further treatment required. Worst bit was the healing as it was itchy until the stitches were removed.
It's worrying but most are benign and even the malignant ones are dealt with by taking a bigger margin of skin - it's very treatable..

My DH works in this area. Most of the referrals he get turn out to be benign moles, skin tags etc. Even the ones that grow or change colour

You're right to get it checked out but it will be ok. I know how hard it is not to worry, I too have health anxiety and I always go to worse case scenario. But you will be ok.

Thank you all so much for your kind messages, it is so reassuring to read and to be honest it is just nice to be listened to.
I have jumped to worst case scenario and convinced myself it’s spread, but that’s just my health anxiety.

I will update when I’ve been and let you know what they said. Ideally they’ll remove it regardless just for peace of mind x

Hello all. I just wanted to post an update as I went to the hospital recently for my mole referral.
The consultant had a look at it as well as every other mole on my body. She looked at it under the light and said she thinks it’s okay, it’s an even colour throughout despite edges being uneven and was confident it is nothing sinister. She wants to see me again in 3 months to monitor any change in size/ colour/shape and if no change she will discharge me. If not, they’ll take it off.

I feel really reassured, but think when I go back I may ask them to remove it anyway regardless. My HA will probably thank me for it in the long run.
Thank you for all your support, in a time of panic I felt very assured and understood 💐

That's excellent news! Glad you're feeling assured, and it's good to know that they're keeping an eye on you too.

What was the mole check like -what happened? Did you have to strip off, or were you in a gown? Was it warm?

I've got an appointment next week with GP for a mole that just really stands out from all my many others. It's either new, or has suddenly got darker, and it has jagged edges. I read what happens if you get referred and I don't want to be there all naked and cold while I get looked at! I hate being scrutinised and looked at by strangers, and I really struggle with the cold! And I have sooooo many moles!

@TheSpottedZebra no problem. Yes, I didn’t quite know what to expect but they did ask me to undress to my underwear and lie down with a sheet over me. The consultant (female) checked over my skin starting with arms, torso, legs, back, back of legs then neck with her eyes and then with the light on any moles that stood out to her.
I felt okay about it, but she had a medical student in with her which made it a little more awkward for me.
It wasn’t cold in my room thankfully and I didn’t feel cold, but maybe that was because I was anxious about the outcome.

It was very quick all in all, I was in and out in 10 minutes and nothing felt overly uncomfortable for me. Hope yours goes as quickly as mine and the outcome is similar x

That's brilliant news @SB1712 . And thanks for coming back to update too - these things are really common but also a source of huge anxiety to a lot of people, so it'll hopefully be reassuring and informative for others too.

Thanks for the description, @SB1712 that's really kind of you! I am worrying a lot bit about what happens, and I'm particularly dreading being cold and undressed. It's so reassuring to read exactly what happens.