Hi all,
Firstly, please accept my apologies if I am not posting this in the correct place. However, I am new to the community and hopefully someone may be able to direct me to the right place if this is incorrect.
I had a mole excision 5 weeks ago and am currently waiting for the results to see if it could be melanoma. The mole was on my right forearm and around 9mm at its largest point. I saw the dermatologist within two weeks of being referred and was lucky enough to have the mole removal the following day. However, they advised that the wait for results was 8 weeks.
I am going out of my mind with worry and I am also having to delay IVF treatment as they advised that under no circumstances should I get pregnant in case it is melanoma that requires cancer treatment.
The anxiety has become crippling, I am experiencing severe headaches that I was even hospitalised for this week which I am sure are a result of severe anxiety and muscles that have gone into spasm because of extreme stress levels.
What I cannot understand, is that whilst I appreciate the histology/pathology departments are incredibly busy and no doubt covid has impacted this, if I am on a cancer pathway, how can an 8 week wait be acceptable? Surely if it is cancer, the prognosis could be so much worse if 8 weeks has passed with the potential that it could be spreading, even though the lesion has been removed.
I feel so alone, even though I have incredible support from my family and friends, but it's terrifying and I can feel myself wanting to isolate myself away because I cannot deal with the anxiety.
If anyone could offer any advice, I would be very grateful.
Thank you
Hi KayleighH and a very warm welcome to the online community which I hope you'll find is both an informative and supportive place to be.
I know how hard waiting for results can be having myself been diagnosed with melanoma 6 years ago. Even before covid there was a wait of anywhere between 2-6 weeks for results with most people finding that they got them back after about 4 weeks. As you say, it all depends on how busy the pathology laboratories are.
The thing that my SCNS (skin cancer nurse specialist) pointed out to me when I queried the length of wait (I had to wait 6 weeks) was that if the lesion was melanoma it had been removed and most cancer spreads very slowly.
My best advice to you would be to take each day at a time, don't think further ahead than now and try and spend the time while you're waiting keeping yourself busy so that you don't spend too much time worrying. As someone much wiser said to me "worrying will not change the result but it will ruin the present". I know it's easier said than done but I've tried to follow that advice ever since.
As the online community is divided up into different support groups, I'm going to recommend that you join us over in the melanoma group which is a great place to ask questions, share experiences and get support.
To join just click on the link I've created which will take you directly to the group. You can then start a new post in the same way as you did here and join in with existing conversations by clicking on 'reply'.
When you feel up to it, it would be great if you could pop something about your diagnosis and treatment so far into your profile as it really helps others when replying to you and also when looking for someone on a similar pathway. It also means that you don't have to keep repeating yourself. To do this click on your username and then select 'Profile'. You can amend it at any time and if you're not sure what to write you can take a look at mine by clicking on my username.
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
