Help me to cope with the wait - a very bad feeling about a mole

[Wobblyheart]

I have GP appt booked for next week, but alarm bells going off big time. I am feeling really sick with worry. I found this new mole, don't know how long it's been there I haven't been tracking my moles much. It is in an awkward place and I only found it because I decided that it might be responsible to do a self check since i for high risk category for melanoma.

And there it was, this small (2-4mm) mole, much darker than any of other moles of mine. When I took pictures it didn't look too bad until I managed to get a macro shot
All I can see now are little spikes of dark pigment shooting out of it. Boots AI checker suggested melanoma as the 2nd most likely probability.

I don't know what I am asking. I have a young child and this just terrifies me.

Can you get the appointment brought forward? Or see a nurse practitioner in the meantime? I saw a NP for a mole I was worried about and she was brilliant - she said moles are something she sees all the time. Mine was itchy and she knew immediately that it was a wart. It scabbed eventually and cleared up. Best wishes to you x

You can get a mole checked at boots in person for £40 results in a week. I wouldn't take anything from AI. Why are you high risk.

Well done for getting it checked out. That's the most important thing!

It's very scary when you have a small child, because your worry is not just about yourself, but about your child too.

Don't google. Because it usually feeds the worst fears in us.
You've done exactly the right thing by contacting your GP.

I have had a few moles checked over the years and they were all fine.

Even worst case scenario (which is rare, most moles checked are harmless), skin cancer is extremely treatable.

Well done for getting it checked . Just to say I have moles like that which are fine so deep breaths and wait for a proper diagnosis.

Thank you all. I have an appt for next Wednesday with a GP I trust. Would you try and call in sooner?

No, that's a quick appt. Even with full blown cancer the wait is awful ,you just have to find a way to cope with the wait and acknowledge that the waiting is awful.

I’ve had a couple of suspicious moles/warts, so has DH - IME they get them looked at and excised for biopsy if they’re even slightly concerned very quickly. Mine have all been benign, DH likewise.

Were they like "ugly ducklings" for you?

Mine is definitely is. It nearly black and all of my other moles are much lighter in colour.

Sometimes things that look like moles turn out not to be once they’re properly checked. My mum had a cherry angioma that showed every classic warning sign of melanoma - it changed colour, bled, and the doctor initially thought it might be melanoma but it turned out to be completely harmless. It was honestly purple at one stage and we were 100% convinced it was cancer.

I’m a medical professional (though not in dermatology), and from the photos it doesn’t immediately look concerning to me. It looks quite uniform and rounded. Does it bleed or itch?

Good luck, and please keep us updated!

edited to add I’ve had a few moles checked in the past and the nurse told me that they do tend to change, and grow, particularly with age and hormones (I had a few appear and grow during pregnancy)

Yes, I've got a couple of "ugly duckling" moles that have worried me because they've been quite different from my others, but the GP has always been happy with them (my GP has removed a few atypical moles and sent them to path lab, but they've always come back as benign naevi).

Yours actually doesn't look overly concerning to me, although you're definitely doing the right thing by having it checked. If it comes to the worst, malignant melanoma that is caught at an early stage actually has a very high survival rate nowadays.

Thank you @LuerLock and @Thehighlightsofit.

it really helps to hear others to leep things in perspective. I am too good at catastrophising.

You are right the size is small, its the fact it's nearly black and if you open the close up, there are like little tiny strands in it. So unsettling.

Will update here once I am seen.

Definitely get it checked, but please don't panic. It doesn't look overly concerning to me (not a Dr or dermatologist!). I've had a couple removed, irregular and dark ones, none were malignant.

ETA: I have a family member who had multiple MMs (hence my vigilance) and none looked like this, theirs were much larger, much paler and much more irregular.

Hello, my husband had a very very similar looking mole. Tiny, almost dark black and had the strands. Will just summarise what happened and timing…

He saw mole and got GP appointment within a week, the appointment was actually with the dermatologist specialist at our GP surgery. He didn’t know how long he had it for but said it was prob a few months tops.
Derma GP said it was almost certainly cancerous and got a fast track appointment at hospital.
hospital appointment within 10days, and dermatologist there said she didn’t think it was cancerous and thought it was a “neeve spitz” (that is totally the wrong spelling but not sure how it was spelt). But said if it was cancerous and hadn’t been there long it probably wouldn’t be down multiple layers of skin.
husband was then booked in to have it removed and that happened maybe 2 weeks later, then got results a further 2 weeks later and it was what the dermatologist thought and wasn’t cancerous.

I had one that looked just like that. The GP thought it looked suspicious and removed it (they can do minor surgery at my GP). I was really anxious but it turned out to be a benign lentigo. Good luck - best to always get checked out but usually it's nothing to worry about x

I just wanted to thank everyone who kept me company whilst I waited. Had a GP appt today with my favourite GP who is just amazing and took time to go through all of the moles and some of other concerns I had. For the mole in the photos, she said it is a reticular patterened benign nevus but will see me in 6 weeks time to make sure it doesnt change.

ugh. so I am posting as I am in a bit of a state and really just need to let it out. So I went back 1 month after being reassured by a GP for a planned follow up and got a urgnet referral under 2 week pathway. GP said they were not overly worried, but as the mole changed slightly needed to be reviewed by derm. Gave me impression that probably derm would discharge me. So I went to derm appt expecting to be discharged and nope, they will be removing this mole. They said it will come out in 4-6 weeks so I am hoping that this timeline is reassuring. But I have been reassured before and yet just seen escalation after escalation. So apparently, it has some dark globules/ dots within. And I am now terrified. I wish I could go back to the appt and ask if it is safe to wait that long.

On top of everything i am also waiting for the result of my brain mri, which was 2 week pathway too, again totally unexpected and I am just really having a hard time.

My friend had a mole removed ' then and there' at her 14 day cancer pathway appt. So I think the wait for your mole removal is reassuring?

I had a similar mole removed by dermatology in November after referral by gp. They said they are more proactive removing moles now - as watchful waiting creates anxiety, more gp visits and ultimately they still end up being removed. The surgery took about 10 mins - didn't hurt and you just have to take it easy for a few days (if it's on part of body that moves a lot). They biopsied the mole and it was not sinister. Obviously until they biopsy it you can't be sure but wanted to reassure you that removal shouldn't itself be seen as an indication that its sinister.

if it was definitely dodgy it would have been removed more quickly. so a wait means there’s a good chance it’s totally fine. so don’t stress unnecessarily. youre just winding yourself up.

I had a similar one removed literally straight away by the consultant at my hospital appointment, rather than wait.

It turned out to be a displastic naevus (sp) so nothing to worry about.

Thank you! I think you are right, having calmed down this is probably what has happened. I just have a terrible HA and having 2 open 2 week wait referrals hasn't been easy!

That's my talent for sure

I had similar, 3mm, it turned out to melanoma, but, it was caught really early and she said she rarely sees them thinner than mine was. So just to reassure you, at around 3mm, from what she said, if it is melanoma it should be very early stage. I had another bit of skin around it removed that showed no more melanoma, no further action needed and nothing since and that was 5yrs ago.

Thank you for sharing it with me, I think it is what is going to happen in this case too as the most probable cause. Thank you for reminding me about it

If it helps, I had a malignant one removed last year, but even though it was cancerous the only treatment I needed was two skin biopsies