Suspected Melanoma

Hi Ilse, I’m sorry to hear you’re worried that you might have a long wait for any surgery for your suspected melanoma. I know that the news has been full of covid and of long waiting lists for NHS treatment, so I was wondering if your worry was because of something general or because of something that’s been said. When melanoma is suspected surgery is fast tracked, and it’s non urgent surgery that has had backlogs.

 I haven’t had surgery to remove a mole (mine was an unknown primary) but I had a quick look on recent posts and I was hoping , Amccl and anyone else might give their experience of how long their wait was. To be honest any wait at all can seem too long at times in my experience, when waiting for a scan, results or change of treatment, I’m in a wait myself but my wait’s a bit different As I know they have to information gather for my next appointment and set things in motion. 

Coping with the waiting is definitely an art and perhaps some will give their tips on waiting or following up for you.

Hi Ilse,

I had to have two operations to remove my melanoma and each time it was about 3-4 weeks after the melanoma was diagnosed.

The second time I know that my surgeon had a bunch of wisdom teeth operations lined up on teenagers and those operations were all delayed on my account. Their parents were probably very annoyed at the change of plan in the middle of the school holidays!

I wouldn't worry about long waiting times for a diagnosed melanoma and of course I hope your mole turns out to be harmless.

Take care

Miranda

The reason I am so stressed about the waiting times is that when I had two suspected melanomas about a year ago it took 14 weeks for them to offer removal. The last ones turned out not to be malignant, but this time the mole I have looks much more like a melanoma.

Thank you Miranda. I have had two suspected melanomas before and they took 14 weeks to offer removal - they turned out to be benign. This time the mole I have does look much more like a typical melanoma than the previous ones, but as you say there is still a chance that it is not malignant.

Gosh I can see why that’s a worry. I’m hoping that as they turned out not to be melanoma that that’s why they took so long.   I hope you are able to talk to a contact at the hospital, to say how concerned you are and ask for a guide line on how long you can expect to wait. I have read on this forum how some people have been sent to further away hospitals to get things done when their nearest one has had too long a wait, a choice given to them by the hospital. Others have explored private treatment to see if things could be done quicker, I’ve never gone down that route.

Hi Ilse

I know all about feeling anxious that a mole might be malignant and it's natural to assume the worst. Did they tell you how soon you'll be told if they believe the photographed mole needs to be removed?

I had a suspicious mole removed two weeks ago so I'm in the waiting for results stage at the moment. From the consultant deciding she wanted it removed to having it removed was 5 weeks. 

x

I had my first surgery the next day after seeing my dermatologist (although I'd sent photos to my GP 5 months before that). I'm to have a WLE and SLNB and am still waiting for an appointment for that. Been waiting 2 weeks now and am a bit of a basket case. I don't do well with waiting and not knowing.

I hope yours doesn't turn out to be melanoma. Mine didn't look like a melanoma so my diagnosis was quite a shock.

No I have not been told anything. It was a telederm clinic in which a nurse took photos with a microscope which will be sent to a consultant the results should come back by Wednesday when they will then refer me to dermatology. I am a retired nurse and I am certain having looked at the photograph that the nurse took that this mole is of concern and will need to be removed and histology done. This mole looks more like a melanoma than the other two moles I had removed about a year ago where the consultant said they could be melanomas. x

I saw the photograph of your mole and it did not look like the usual kind of melanoma at all, so I can understand it must have been a terrible shock. What are WLE and SLNB? What ever they are I hope they go well for you. Yes - not knowing and waiting is not easy.

Having not been to a telederm clinic Ilse is this something that your GP sends you to? Do you still go for a consultation afterwards or does the consultant only call you in for an appointment if after looking at the photos he thinks it looks suspicious? It seems a bit pointless taking photos if you still have to see someone face-to-face for them to examine you, or am I missing something?

x