Hi! I had a biopsy on 27th Nov which came back as stage 1a melanoma and I am waiting for my WLE.
I have hundreds and hundreds of moles and a very large number of them are atypical and increasingly so. I find it impossible to keep track. I pay privately to have them checked once a year. This year they took one for biopsy. It was very small and looked just like any other of my moles. It was regular in shape and colour but had become a little darker (as have lots of others). I would not have known (at least at this early stage) that it was different from the others. Thank goodness for the skin check.
However, I feel like a sitting duck. I have lots of moles that fit the ABCDE criteria. I was seen by my NHS skin cancer clinic and they wish to remove one of my larger atypical moles from my breast, as a preventative measure, but were not worried by my smaller moles. They took photographs of a few of my larger moles and a whole body mole map, but I'm not sure what the plan is for that.
The consultant dermatologist from my original check and biopsy said that there is no evidence to support the removal of moles preemptively. I don't know whether I find that reassuring or not! And I'm not sure why the hospital want to take a mole that has been stable for decades. Given the size of it, it will be disfiguring but obviously that is not important in the larger picture.
The original clinic has recommended skin checks every 3 months. I have been told to photograph my moles monthly by the hospital. I'm trying with the app miskin but the sheer number of moles are impossible. How do other people manage? I thought maybe I should start a spread sheet. Eg left lower leg 48 moles 20 of which atypical etc.
I don't want to look at my skin it frightens me, not to mention my teenagers also have ABCDE moles...
What do other people do to keep on top of this without damaging their mental health? Are there modern photography options, can you pay to stand in a booth or something and it scan them for you?
I've always avoided the sun, covered up, worn 50+ due to my fair skin and many moles.
Thanks in advance for your advice.
Hi Birdietweet 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'm sorry to read that you've recently been diagnosed with melanoma but it's good that it's been caught at a very early stage.
I have lots of moles so agree that it's potentially difficult to keep track of them. What my dermatologist told me to do was to take photos of all the different parts of my body, ie lower left leg, upper right arm, etc, and then to use these as a baseline to compare against when I do my monthly check.
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
