Urgent referral

Hi gem1984,

I have had a similar experience to you, I went to my GP just over a month ago as a mole on my lower stomach had started growing and wasn't looking quite right. My GP took photos and mentioned the irregular colours within the mole and the large size. I saw a dermatologist within 10 days who looked at it through a dermascope and said they thought it could be a form of cancer caused basal cell carcinoma. Then a week later, I had an excisional biopsy where they removed all of it and I am now waiting for the results. It can be a worrying time but the process seems to be quite speedy so hopefully you will get some answers soon. 

Hi Kaspian

thanks for getting back to me, yes they do seem to be on it! I am hoping to hear tomorrow so I can at least try and chill on the weekend! 

how long do you have to wait for the results? X

Hi Gemma

I have been impressed with dermatology so far, there seems to be a good system which is reassuring. I hope you hear something soon as the waiting can be frustrating. I was told that I would get the results in 2-6 weeks and it has been just over 2 weeks so not too much longer.

Pleased to hear that the dermatologists are dealing with this so quickly, it's very reassuring, I've been really pleased with mine.

If it's any help, high risk results tend to come back much quicker, so the longer the wait the better. Mine came back in two days! Having said that I hope you don't have too much longer to wait, it's nice to know what you're dealing with.

Hi Didi60 and KaspianSce

I don't want to put a dampener on your expectations of what the results mean in terms of length of time it takes for them to come back but I also don't want you to have unrealistic expectations. Basically it all comes down to how busy the path labs are in your particular area of the country. Most biopsies on moles take between 2-6 weeks to come back with the average being around 4 weeks. Mine took 6 weeks and revealed that I had malignant melanoma.

I'll be keeping everything crossed that yours is benign KaspianSce

x

• Hi kaspiansce - sorry, I hope I haven't offended anyone. I had my biopsy done privately, so that may have made the turnaround faster, although they did say it would take two weeks. The waiting is always the worst x

Please don't worry that you've offended anyone with your comments Didi60 as I'm sure that no one will have been. 

You are right that waiting for the results can be really hard and it's difficult at the moment to be able to do the sort of things that you might normally do to distract yourself.

Do you know yet whether you're having surgery or radiation for your BCC?

x

Hi Latchbrook - I'm still waiting to hear. My dermatologist feels radiotherapy offers the best chance of complete cure, as this kind of BCC has a high risk of reoccurrence at the original site as it's invasive, but a wide margin excision would work too. I just want it gone! I read your bio, it's good to hear that you are still free from, long may it continue x

Hi Didi60

Glad to hear that you have been reassured by the care from the dermatologists. The doctor I saw explained everything really well which helped when I had the biopsy a few days later. I was told 2-6 weeks but I will prepare myself in case it takes a while. Two days is impressive, the waiting is always frustrating and I am trying to find ways to distract myself!

Hi latchbrook

That is good to know, I think the initial process of being referred to a dermatologist and then having a biopsy was so quick that I am half expecting the results to take quite a lot longer. Did you find out your results over the phone or in a letter if you don't mind me asking? I had a letter today saying they thought I had pigmented BCC but they are waiting on the biopsy results to confirm this. I hope this is not the case though. Thanks for your kind words and I hope you are doing well x