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Advice on teenage son’s mole
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Advice on teenage son’s mole

› Forums › Cutaneous Melanoma Community › Advice on teenage son’s mole

  • Post
    • May 1, 2019 at 10:12 pm
    curious12
    Participant

      Hi! I have had melanoma in-situ and so has my sibling.  I have probably had 50+ moles off since ranging from benign to severely atypical (most mild atypica or benign)

      My son is 13.5 and has a small/medium mole on his back. It was a tiny light speck in 2014 and now is 4-5mm dark brown but getting darker. It seems to be changing a bit more rapidly than his other moles but not alarmingly so. It's really his only one on his back. I am inclined to remove as it's coming up on puberty and hard to watch, sun will hit (it's on his shoulder blade so also hard to cover with spf)

      Is that reckless of me to just remove a seemingly normal mole? Should I just have it punched out and be done or have his derm check it with a dermatoscope and if it's fine under that, then leave it. I am sick of checking it and looking at it… one day it looks normal to me and then under other light it looks dark and I want off. My gut is it's atypical….

      Trying to balance my anxiety with being proactive and thinking of the future (Back, hard to see and my history) but I realize it's a slippery slope. He has new tiny blackish one on leg- so maybe I should focus on that lol

       

      Thanks!

       

       

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    • Replies
        • May 2, 2019 at 12:57 am
        KellyH
        Participant

          Get it checked!!!!  My son was diagnosed at age 17 with Stage 3 melanoma from a mole that looked like nothing to everyone that looked at it.  We were completely shocked when the pathology came back melanoma.  Better safe than sorry is what I say. 

          Good luck!!! 

          Kelly 

            • May 2, 2019 at 1:40 am
            curious12
            Participant

              Thanks for your reply. I did have it looked at and derm said it was fine… I still wonder if I should have it checked with a dermatoscope. Sorry about your son's diagnosis! I hope he is doing ok. What did his mole look like and what made you take it off? Just curious since you said everyone said it was nothing… best wishes!

              • May 2, 2019 at 4:20 pm
              sharonlynn210
              Participant

                My son also had a mole on his back when he was 18 removed and he is stage 3 . 

                • May 2, 2019 at 5:23 pm
                curious12
                Participant

                  Sorry to hear that! What did it look like? Size, color, changing?  I am all about just getting things off but trying to balance it all and wondering how accurate dermatascope is! Best wishes!!

                • March 12, 2024 at 7:19 pm
                curious12
                Participant

                  KellyH:

                  Get it checked!!!! My son was diagnosed at age 17 with Stage 3 melanoma from a mole that looked like nothing to everyone that looked at it. We were completely shocked when the pathology came back melanoma. Better safe than sorry is what I say.

                  Good luck!!!

                  Kelly

                  Can you let me know more info? Size? New? Color? Changing? Any history?

                  • March 12, 2024 at 7:21 pm
                  curious12
                  Participant

                    sharonlynn210:

                    My son also had a mole on his back when he was 18 removed and he is stage 3 .

                    Any other details? How is he doing?

                    • July 29, 2024 at 12:26 am
                    mmbraddock
                    Participant
                      My son is 16 and has probably had six biopsies. I have stage 3b melanoma. From my understanding, Melanoma is actually more linked to skin characteristics, although genetics can play a role. My son has my characteristics, strawberry blonde hair, freckles as a kid, more than 50 moles. Only difference is he didn’t get sunburned except one time (I was horrified) as a kid. I did have a genetic test done at Moffitt that tests for Genetic Markers for cancer links. I do not carry a genetic link, which is great. My dermatologist and his said he cuts everything off bc better to get anything concerning biopsied now so as he ages the concerning moles will be gone bc statistically kids go less in college and in their early 20’s for skin checks. So cut away! There has been some precious evidence that a shave is more high risk than a punch in the case that it was something you are more likely to get it all with a punch where as with a shave it could potentially not go deep enough. Not sure if this is valid but heard it years ago. Just a few thoughts as another teen mom.
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