If not melanoma... what could it be?

Hello , welcome to the online community, and yes I can relate to the wait. I haven’t had a primary melanoma (I have metastatic melanoma) and I am not a medical professional, I’ve been on the site for over 4 years and a number of people have posted when they are anxiously waiting for the procedure and then the long wait for results. A cheer goes up when it is not melanoma at all or when it’s melanoma in situ ( a precancerous condition) that has been removed.

A strange mole that looks like a melanoma but isn’t is sometimes a Seborrhoeic keratoses, very difficult to tell it apart from melanoma sometimes and so diagnosis of melanoma only usually comes from the biopsy results, and often takes 2 pathologists to confirm a melanoma as they are not as common as we might think as of course many here have that diagnosis. A bit like you expecting melanoma as you work in oncology and see that side of things a lot, I imagine. We usually find people who do not have melanoma don’t often come back to the site and so may not see your post, which is why I have answered it from the perspective of seeing other people’s posts and not my own experience. I hope that was ok.

if you get anxious during your wait people are here to support you, to listen to you and give you a cheer hopefully at the end. 

I still hope someone who has the experience you want pops up though.

Hi KT,

Thank you for your quick and considerate reply, really helped me to put my mind at ease! You’re right, working in the area I do has given me a different perspective (that I’d rather not have). Thanks for sharing your thoughts on non-melanoma lesions - you’re probably right that unless someone with a diagnosis of melanoma has also had a separate scare, there might not be people on the forum with the experience I’m looking for! 

To be honest I’m expecting to find the wait for the removal worse than the wait for the biopsy results (as I think I’ll feel a lot better with it gone!) so I’m hoping the anxiety subsides a bit and it’ll stop being the only thing I think about. 

Whatever the outcome, I’ll definitely share my experience here in case it helps others going through the same x

Hi , 

I ve just done another search for negative results you might want to read this one about spitz nevus 

https://community.macmillan.org.uk/cancer_types/melanoma/f/melanoma-forum/199919/it-s-a-miracle---not-melanoma?Page=0#1458488

You are very right, once it’s removed the pressure should be off, you can hopefully think positive that it’s been removed.

Brilliant we will look forward to you posting a negative result ! 

Well, pathology results came back after 3 weeks (seemed really quick, it must be quiet at the moment!) and it was a benign compound naevus. My dermatologist was even surprised as from the dermoscopy pictures he was convinced it was malignant - I could see the worry in his face when I came in but during the examination before it was removed he said it didn't look as bad as the dermoscopy made it look - just goes to show how close benign moles can look to melanoma! I hope this reassures anyone waiting for their biopsy results.

I have to say, the healing process was a lot tougher than I imagined, I don' t think the stitches worked very well and as it was on my ankle I couldn't walk for weeks! But definitely glad it's been removed, as atypical moles are more likely to become malignant in the future, and also for my peace of mind.

Thanks for the support during this time KTatHome! X