suspected melanoma

[Numberfour]

AIBU to be a bit worried? saw GP yesterday and today I received the referral letter for removal of the mole next Thursday.

stupidly worried and so is DH

but my sister and friend's dad and another friend's dad all had suspected melanomas removed and they are all fine!

Where is the mole? Has it been changing for very long...is it raised or flat?

The quicker it comes off the better, either way

Don't worry yet. something like 98% of early ones can be fully cured. Hope you have caught it early, if that's what it is.

The mole is on the front of my thigh, it is raised and red and was very itchy a few nights ago.

Tt has been there for years but only changed in the past two months or so.

Thanks for your reply! I want it removed NOW and i want to know more NOW!

It's possible you have just irritated it. It's not unknown for a mole to go bonkers and not be cancerous.

But you were right to get it checked out.

I would suggest checking out the UK melanoma forum - there is loads of support on there, whether it tests positive or not and whatever stage it might be at.

Hope it is nothing,

do you want to know what happens if it is positive? I can run you through the basics if you like. Or the guys on the forum will.

Could you run through what happens in the case of a positive result? Thanks!

And when can I expect to get the results?

I will also look at UK melanoma forum, thanks.

I had melanoma on my back. Within a week I had the mole removed and a larger area removed. Thankfully it hadn't spread. This was in the states though.

I've had moles removed here and its taken 8 weeks to get the results which I think is appalling.

Hiya;

yes of course. Well, the first thing they will want to know is how deep it goes into your skin. this is usually called a Breslow thickness or depth, and is measured in millimetres, or mm so it might be say 0.7 or 1.5 or something like that.

Hopefully it'll be low, but anything over about 0.75 will mean they'll want to do a couple of things.

First a CT scan to see whether there is any other spread, ie into your lymph nodes or anywhere else. that;s the first place it goes normally, the nearest lymph basin so that will be your groin on that side. Another thing they will do is called a sentinel node biopsy/ SNB (again if it is over about .75mm)
This is when they inject a radioactive dye into the area of the mole, and see which lymph node it drains to first - then they will take out that node, or maybe two, and inspect it to see if there is any sign of cancer in it. If not, it probably hasn't spread and you can feel lucky!

If the thickness is less than .75 or so, they probably won't do this procedure. What you will probably have then is just a wider excision, or WLE, in which they take out further skin around the mole, to check it hasn't spread further around it. If these margins or edges are clear, they'll send you away with an appointment for a follow up in a few months. If there is more, again they might do the SNB or CT scan just to be safe.

Ok so if you get a positive on the SNB they will possibly take out the rest of the nodes in that area, but that's not a huge deal, and you could still be fine after that, for many years if not for good. One step at a time, for now - hopefully you won't need any of this stuff.

the results will usually be pretty quick, especially if there is anything bad! I'd expect it to be within a few days, either way, possibly up to a week or two if nothing bad.
They don't mess about with melanoma. Which is good!

Hope this helps, do ask if you have any more questions or don't understand anything (I am not the most organised of explainers!)

Let us know how you get on, if you feel like it. A few days won't make any difference to the outcome so try not to worry, take it easy, let everyone else look after you.

Poshtottie - indeed, that is dreadful - I can't imagine they would get away with that but the NHS varies as to where you are I think.

Definitely chase the results, No4, anyway.

Million thanks, ConDemNation (damn good name!! )

may I bug you with another question?

The hip joint (where leg joins pelvis) in the leg with the mole has been aching on and off for months and months.

I did not mention this to the GP yesterday and DH is not impressed with me. Could it be related? It was so sore in the Easter Holidays after running around with the kids on a field, I could not put any weight on my leg.

I don't think it is related at all, but then I have far less medical knowledge than you.

poshtottie, thanks for input. 8 weeks is appalling.

I don't want to slag off our wonderful health service but I saw a dermatologist last year about another mole and he insinuated I was paranoid and asked if it was really melanoma that I had previously.

Well I have a large scar to prove it.

Posh He sounds well useless, to be frank

Numberfour, I'm sorry for the delay in answering. This aching might well be nothing to do with your mole, but due to the chance it may be related, you need to get this info to your doctor immediately. (tomorrow)

It should speed up your treatment, in an ideal world anyway, if they realise you are having symptoms that might point to a more serious situation.

Sorry - I wish I could be more reassuring, but without investigation nobody can say for certain whether your pain is just a sore muscle or whether it means the nodes are perhaps swollen there. If they are, you could have melanoma in your lymph system. Let's hope it is a muscle strain!

Please let us know how you get on, will be worrying till I hear!

...sorry, I do sound very alarmist there...didn't mean to. The fact is your mole might well be benign, and until we know that, there's not much point worrying about the other stuff.

One step at a time is very important in a situation like this. I could rattle off this stuff to people I meet every day, with random skin lesions - there is a very, very small chance any of them would have melanoma. It's not as rare as it was, but it's still a rare cancer and there's a lot of other things could cause your symptoms, so I hope you are not too freaked out by my medical ramblings.

Best of luck, anyway

the ache is nowhere near my groin. more on the outside of the joint. i would bet my bottom dollar that it is not muscular. right inside the joint but more on the outer leg than inner.

fuck it. pass me the wine!

(I am SO curious about your occupation..... can you tell me??)

Well, I say go with the wine

Occupation rather than actual job, is a good way of putting it - I'm not a doctor, but I am heavily involved in melanoma support groups and have spent a lot of time researching it.
Hoping to do medical degree as soon as ds is a bit bigger...in the interim I just like to bore people

You have not bored me!

I will ring the doctor tomorrow (DH not v happy that I did not tell him in the first place).

And I will you know what happens.

I really appreciate the time and effort you have taken. Thank you!

It's no problem and just glad to be slightly useful...don't forget you are your own best advocate, so push for anything you feel should be happening, and you're more likely to get it - don't be fobbed off.

Speak soon!

also please tell your DH he mustn't be annoyed - you had no idea it could be related until I told you! Nobody would know if they didn't have a background in this stuff. You're not at fault.

I had a dodgy bit of skin removed last year and it only took a week for the results to come back - just wanted to let you know that you mightn't have to wait 8 weeks (which is shocking)

Thanks, TigerFeet. I hope everything was okay!

No4, when you speak to the doctor, tell him you have had this pain for a few months and say that you are concerned it could indicate nodal metastasis, and that if he can speed up the whole process you would appreciate it.

He will either say you're being silly or to take it one step at a time but at least he will listen if you use the correct term and tell him exactly why you are concerned.

Then if the mole does come back dodgy, you can request (demand!) a nodal biopsy, as well, which they might not offer if you don't ask. That way you will know if anything's going on. Plus a CT as well.

Hope it doesn't get to any of this, anyway and is just an irritated mole.
Good luck!

at the Dr who insinuated being paranoid. I had suspected melanoma ( they got it changing , but inconclusive to what to so treated it as melanoma) and had loads took off following the initial one. Gp/ hosp always keen to do it at the first mention.

Not sure if it's changed but I was followed up for 5 years afterwards & had lymph nodes checked at each appt as well as the original site.

I have called the doc and he will ring me back this morning. I really don't want to look foolish, but rather foolish than there being something more serious.

Nymphora, that's good news that you received such treatment.

Numberfour - we have just (hopefully) come out of the other side of this.

DH had an irritated looking scab that just wouldn't heal. But he had it for about 4 years!

Finally he went to the GP who dismissed it as some skin infection but sent it for removal anyway.

Of course it turned out to be malignant melanoma and the worst the surgeon had seen in 20 years!

He went through everything ConDemNation has so accurately described in terms of Lymph node removal etc and just recently got a tentative all clear - with follow ups as Nymphadora has described.

My point is that he let his fester for 4 years and he seems to be OK . It is good that you caught yours so early. But if you suspect you need further investigation I would push for it as GPs don't always expect the worse. Good luck!

Merrylegs, so sorry to hear this...what was the depth of it if I can ask? Has he had any adjuvant therapy?

Hope all remains well for you!

Merrylegs, another friend of mine's husband was sent away from the GP with a prescription for antibiotics and it also turned out to be skin cancer. Good to hear that your DH is in the clear.

The doctor has called me back and has said that it is unlikely that the pain in the hip is related to the mole, but he has given me an anti inflammatory prescription and will arrange for an X-ray.

I was worried i would sound like a hypochondriac.

Thanks for all your help and advice, ConDemNation and every one else!

I think if a not too old bloke - say late 30s early 40s - goes to the GP and hasn't been there before, or only rarely, the GP should really assume that it is something serious. I only say that as a friend's husband dropped dead from a heart attack last week. He had gone to the doctor for probably the only time in his life with pains in his arm and was sent away with antibiotics for muscle strain. Got in his car and collapsed. Left 3 small children. Anyway, I digress....

Thank you for the wishes, ConDemNation. TBH I don't know how deep the melanoma was but I do know that DH now has a good chunk of his upper arm missing! They also removed the lymph nodes under the arm. That is interesting about the adjuvant therapy. I had never heard of it. Given that the initial prognosis was real doom and gloom and we were assigned a Macmillan Nurse from day 1 I am still not convinced that everything is OK. He has a follow up appointment in a couple of weeks and I am going to make sure he mentions every little ache and pain, especially in the neck and head area as I think that is where they thought it could have spread to if it did. I think it is excellent that you are getting an x ray Nymphodora and I wish you good luck with everything.