Son has suspected Melanoma

Hi Bub18 and a very warm welcome to the online community which I hope you'll find is both an informative and supportive place to be.

It's always a worrying time when you're waiting to hear about a diagnosis and it's natural that you have lots of questions. 

The most common way for melanoma to appear is on the skin but some people in the group had no signs of it on the skin and it was picked up because of swollen lymph nodes.

Has your son seen a dermatologist yet/had the mole removed?

Thank you for your reply latchbrook he hasn’t seen a dermatologist he has literally seen his GP  a couple of days ago who then fast tracked him to a specialist but has no appointment yet 

Thanks for the extra information Bub18.

He will probably see a dermatologist first who will then decide if the mole needs removing for a biopsy. However, in case the excision does happen on the same day, tell your son to ask how long results are currently taking to come back. It can vary between 2-6 weeks with most people getting there results around the 4 week mark.

x

Thank you so much for the information your sharing with me not knowing the next steps and stages of things to come helps enormously as he does worry a lot I will share this with him as it will help ease his anxiety x (and mine) 

I had a mole on my leg that was getting darker so spoke to my gp, she fast tracked me to see a dermatologist on a 2 week pathway.  Whilst I was there, I did mention 2 others and I had all 3 removed 16 March. I was called back 7 weeks later for my biopsy results. I had more surgery 7 June and have been told biopsy results will only be available in 8 weeks.  

Your son has done the right thing by getting it seen to, try not to worry although I know that's easier said than done as our boys are so precious. 

Nikster thank you for your reply I feel the 2 week fast track is very good but the wait for biopsy results seems so long for people.  It awful and doesn’t seem to be any reassurance in between.  We’re you seen within the 2 weeks also When you were given your first results after 7 weeks can I ask were these encouraging results for you ?

Yes, I was seen a week after referral and had excision biopsy 2 weeks later. One of the moles was stage 1A melanoma and the other 2 were melanoma in situ so I was lucky it was caught early. Had a wide local excision on all 3 on 7 June and then will have skin checks every 3 months for 1 year.

Your son is in good hands but I know the waiting is not fun. I felt like my life was in limbo but my friends and son really helped me through it.

Please keep me updated x