Melanoma removal - anyone been through this?

[redpanda]

I have been worried about a mole on my leg for a while and saw the Doctor at the skin clinic at my surgery this week. The mole is a very different colour to the (many) others I have (much darker) and she agreed that I was right to check it out. She thinks that it is probably a melanoma and has referred me to the hospital where she said to expect that it will be removed and a biopsy will be done. The mole is about 1cm in width.

I just want to understand what the removal process would be if anyone else has been through this procedure. Would this be done with local anaesthetic? Does it result in much scarring afterwards? Is it painful? (I?m a wimp).

Oh dear. TBH I'm more worried about the scar that the fact it might be cancer as I have rationalised/convinced myself that this is sortable by removal. Positive thinking and all that.
Mine is on the thigh too - the front.

yack

My mum had one done on her face and it's healed up and just looks like any other line you'd have on your face.

It'll be fine just remember to keep drinking lots of water to keep your skin healthy or it'll not heal as quickly

Mm DS1 had a melanoma removed a few years ago when he was 10.

It was on his inner thigh, and was about half an inch long.

It was done under a local aneasthetic, and the surgeon was fantastic. My son, bless him, was naturally very nervous, but the surgeon did a great job of settling him down.

Three years on the scar is obviously noticable, but has faded alot.

Good luck redpanda - I'm sure everything will be fine. Best get it dealt with early before it turns nasty.

I had 2 removed from my face, 2 from my front and 2 from by back.

It was done under local, and the scarring is minimal. It really depends how your skin is.

The one on my face was nearly 1 cm across

That's all very reassuring. Thank You.

I had one on my back removed when I lived in the US. Thankfully they were able to remove successfully under a local anaesthetic. Though if it is malignant they will have to remove quite a large area depending if it has spread. I don't want to scare you but if it is malignant don't let them wait weeks to get results.