Waiting biopsy results. Had a really dark 4mm slightly rAised new mole removed last week. ? Abnormal mole, ? Early melanoma. But I’ve been googling and everything points to a nodular melanoma. When I enlarge the pic of the mole that’s been removed, it definitely resembles / identical to some of the pics I’ve seen on the net for NM. Now scared to death. Feel sick, can’t eat, can’t sleep. What if it is and they didn’t get it all when they biopsied? I’ve been told 6 week wait for results. If it is NM, I have no chance! Can anyone offer some comfort please? Am I right to be really worried? I am feeling so so,anxious.
Hi and a very warm welcome to the online community
Waiting for biopsy results is really horrible and there's no easy answer of how to deal with it as we all have different ways of coping. Some people clean the house from top to bottom (you can come and do mine if yours is already done!), I threw myself into my hobbies, others throw themselves into work while others find mindfulness and other similar techniques helpful. Try whichever you think will work for you and also keep coming back here to talk to us.
One thing that you should definitely do is STAY AWAY FROM GOOGLE. As you've found googling hasn't eased your worries but scared you to death. If you want to know more about melanoma and it's treatment then stick with reputable sites like this one or Cancer Research UK.
The great thing about this community is you'll find lots of real people who can share their experiences with you. Some people have been where you are, convinced that they have melanoma, and then come back with the good news that the mole was benign.
I was diagnosed with melanoma just over 3 years ago after a 6 week wait for my results. The thing to remember is that, if it is melanoma, it has been removed so it's not doing any further damage. Again, if it is melanoma, you'll have a wide local excision (WLE) where a further margin is taken away all around the melanoma to make sure there are absolutely no cells left behind. This usually happens about 4-12 weeks later. If it's over a certain depth then you'll also be offered an optional sentinel lymph node biopsy. However, hopefully your mole will be benign and these procedures won't be anything you'll need to know about.
Sending a supportive ((hug))
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
Hi
I'm glad to have helped. That was how my skin cancer nurse specialist (SCNS) described the removal of the mole/melanoma to me.
There is some good information on coping with anxiety on this site which I could link you to tomorrow if you'd like.
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
Hi
How are you feeling this morning? I'm hoping that you got a good nights sleep and that things don't seem as scary this morning.
As promised, here are some links on coping with anxiety. The first one is from MIND and gives advice on how you can help yourself, the next is Macmillan's advice on coping with fear and anxiety and the last one is from the NHS and gives links to mindfulness apps, some of which are free.
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
How did you get on at the doctor's ?
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
Glad to see the GP was able to help .
Hopefully with each passing day you'll feel less anxious. It certainly happened that way for me.
I know this is easy to say but worrying won't change the future but it will make the present miserable for you.
At the moment you don't know whether the mole is benign or malignant and it would be such a shame to spend the time leading up to finding out feeling awful when it might be benign.
Keep talking to us here if you feel you need to as we all understand how you feel.
Sending a virtual ((hug))
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
