Hi all, I’m new to the group but have been browsing for months as I’ve been on this journey.
This is a bit of a long one so please bear with me.
In March I went to the doctors for to a freckle/mole on the outside of my ear that had changed and grown. The doctor made an urgent referral to the hospital, saw a dermatologist who referred it to a plastic surgeon for removal. In April I had said mole removed and it was sent for testing. I kept ringing to see if my results were in and was told that they had been sent to another hospital for further testing.
On 23rd May I had an appointment to be given my results, I was told that I had stage 1a melanoma which was thin but was cancer nevertheless. I then had a WLE on 31st March to ensure that it had all been removed and there was no cells left behind, quite a sizeable amount of my ear was removed. About 3 weeks after I was given the result that it was all clear and they had got it all the first time. But that I would still need to have 3 monthly check ups for a year.
During this time I realised I infact had critical illness cover through my husbands insurance policy and had started the bank rolling with this (at small silver lining to what had happened this year I thought), and here starts the problems. I sent everything I needed to to the insurers, and the hospital had the paperwork to be sent from that end.....this drew out over 3 months!, last week I called the hospital myself and was asked to come in and see my consultant. Friday I went in to sit and hear this from him “I have good news and bad news......good news is you never had cancer in the first place, bad news is your insurance claim is now invalid!”
He then said to me that with 2 conflicting histology reports (one hospital said boarderline, other said Stage 1 melanoma) he as at this point decided to go for a third opinion on it from St Thomas hospital in London as they are deemed the experts in this. And they have sent a report back saying basically that it was a bad looking mole, with cell changes but showed no malignancy.
Im so angry about all of this, i mean .......which report is correct....who knows??
I should I also mention that when I saw my consultant on Friday he looked at another mole on my face that had changed a bit....and said that this needed to come off and babe sent for testing just to be safe.
I am so angry and upset and I don’t really know who to talk to about all of this....the diagnosis turned my family upside down (I realise it had a good prognosis from the start, however I gave birth mid January, and my mental health suffered with this news on top). I just keep thinking how can I have 3 different reports for the same sample from 3 different hospitals...and which one is really correct.
If you have read read this far thank you so much. X
Hi and welcome to the online community
I'm glad to hear that your mole turned out not to be melanoma but I can understand what an upsetting experience this must have been for you and your family.
When you say that you "don't really know who to talk to about all of this" do you mean that you want this investigating? If so then you should contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) at your hospital and they can help resolve problems for you or tell you how to go about making a complaint if this is what you want to do.
It is quite common for moles to be sent off for a second opinion as sometimes it can be very difficult to tell if the mole is cancerous or not. I think that if there's any doubt if the mole is cancerous or not, when your case is discussed at the multidisciplinary team (MDT) meeting, the team would probably air on the side of caution and opt for a WLE to be on the safe side. I don't know this for definite though and this could be something that you ask your consultant or PALS.
Let us know how you get on
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
Ah, I didn't realise that they'd only asked for a third opinion when you'd sent in the insurance claim paperwork . That does sound a bit odd as it must have been months after the original biopsies were done.
I can understand why you'd be apprehensive about having the mole on your face removed but I think I'd be like you and want it removing just in case. A few months ago I had a second lesion appear on the same arm that I had the melanoma on. My consultant gave me the option of having it removed or just keeping an eye on it but I opted to have it removed. Fortunately it turned out to be non-cancerous but I now have another nice little scar to add to my collection!
You're perfectly right that although it's now been decided that you didn't have cancer it doesn't change any of what you had to go through both physically and mentally. I think you'll find that others who haven't been in your position will find this difficult to understand.
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
Hi
Have you had the date come through yet for the removal of the mole from your face? I also wondered if you'd found out why they'd sent your previous lesion off for a third biopsy but only after they'd told you that you had melanoma?
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
