Had a mole removed in July, was told 8-12 weeks for results. It got to 11 weeks and I called them to chase it and was told the sample had been sent to another hospital for a second opinion. A few days later I logged onto my patient portal and saw a histology report had been uploaded stating 1b melanoma. I called the department and said I’d seen this online but no one has spoken to me about it. She said she would chase the clinical team. In the meantime I contacted my GP to inform them and they contacted dermatology to ask them to make me an appointment to talk it through with me. Admin called to make me an appointment for last Friday, I attended and was seen by two lovely staff members, but they didn’t have anything to tell me. They could see the histology report but no one had written why they wanted another opinion. They seemed frustrated on my behalf that I had waited so long and that no one had contacted me. This week one of the lovely staff members called me to check in, then called again to let me know they had the second opinion report and she wanted to tell me over the phone rather than wait until the skin cancer nurses discussed me in their MDT meeting at the end of the week (which I very much appreciated!). Report says 1b, breslow 0.9mm, mitotic rate of 2, no ulceration. Will need a WLE and a SLNB.
I contacted PALS about my experience and they initially just forwarded by concern to the department, then when I contacted them again they said “we can see an appointment has been made for you, your concerns will be addressed there”…but they weren’t…because the staff members couldn’t tell me anymore than I had already read online (not their fault and they were lovely about the whole thing). I don’t feel PALS have been very helpful.
I still haven’t heard from the skin cancer nurses specialists. I know I’ve been informed of next steps by the lovely lady at the appointment, but the skin cancer nurses haven’t contacted me at all, even though they knew I’d seen the report online.
I’m so frustrated and upset about it all, I’m anxious that I might have other moles that need removing (I have a lot of moles), I’m anxious that the long wait between July and now will mean the likelihood of the melanoma spreading is higher. I’m scared, upset and annoyed.
Has anyone been in a similar situation?
