› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Arrived quickly, but fading…what does this mean?
- This topic has 9 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 8 months ago by
DZnDef.
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- April 6, 2016 at 1:58 pm
Two years ago a derm said a spot on my back had to be removed. Like a fool I did not get a second opinion and did it. Turned out to be a very slow growing type and probably unnecessary given my age and other other chronic health issues.
Now a dark spot appeared suddenly on my wrist, purple to start with, then browner, not a mole. About the size of a pencil eraser. Seemed to fit the bill better for melanoma than the early one. But it is fading fast a week after I noticed it. What does this mean?
There are only two derms in my town and I don't want to go to either one of them. Big city a distance away also had two derms that I consulted after first surgery. Not impressed with them either. Why is it so hard to get a competent derm who doesn't rush into surgery, doesn't get annoyed with being asked for a second opinion. I went to 4 in all and wasn't unreasonable, kept going because I knew I needed to find a good one for future reference.
If this is melanoma regressing, does it need treatment? Keep watching it? Do what about this? If I go to another knife happy derm and he/she carves out a ditch like the one in my back, I may lose function in my hand because there isn't much between skin on wrist and the tendons, muscles, bone that operate my hand.
Any opinions?
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- April 6, 2016 at 2:32 pm
This sounds more like a blood blister than melanoma. Trauma, not cancer. I just don't think you'd see something appear suddenly then go away in a short amount of time and have that be melanoma. It would be nice if our immune system were that swift and immediate, but I don't think that's reality. In general, you typically wait several weeks to see if something "resolves" and it sounds like this is resolving on its own. Melanoma wouldn't do that. Obviously, this is just a best guess and the final word would be at least talking to a derm. Even they would most likely let it alone to see if it continues to resolve before doing a biopsy. You get to make the call on waiting or talking with a derm.
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- April 6, 2016 at 3:21 pm
That was my first thought….a blood blister. But the location and the color pattern was not like a blister. Not elevated, no recall of any trauma.
I guess waiting and watching is really all I can do at this point, since I have found no derm that seemed better than the average bear.
In the past, prior to health issues, I assumed that all doctors were competent because they had gone thru all that training, and some had a number of years of experience. Don't think that anymore and the 10 minute appointment thing has made it worse.
In relation to another health issue, I was surprised that the doc instantly went to the most expensive big machine testing, when an ultrasound was the normal approach and there was no reason not to do it first. Are they trying to pay for their expensive machines? This was a multiple doctor practice with their own machines. Patients have got to be on their toes these days, can't just walk in anywhere and get the best.
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- April 7, 2016 at 10:47 pm
I agree, Anonymous, there has been a decrease in quality of care over the years. The 10-minute appointments are truly annoying. But to be fair, I believe Doctors are in a rough spot these days. They start with massive student loan debt and have to pay ridiculous amounts for malpractice insurance. Meanwhile, they're getting squeezed by insurance companies on how much they get paid for visits. My gynecologist is retiring early due to the ACA requirement that annual woman wellness exams are "free". The insurance companies don't reimburse her enough for these to make it worth her while to practice. Another poster mentioned her derm would not remove multiple lesions in one session because he wasn't compensated enough that way. I'm afraid we're just going to see more of this in the future. I also agree that doctors are not interchangeable. Like any profession, some are better at it than others. Just remember, someone was last in their class at Harvard and still got their degree…
I hope you learn that this weird spot is nothing to worry about and goes away on its own.
Cheers,
Maggie
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- April 7, 2016 at 10:47 pm
I agree, Anonymous, there has been a decrease in quality of care over the years. The 10-minute appointments are truly annoying. But to be fair, I believe Doctors are in a rough spot these days. They start with massive student loan debt and have to pay ridiculous amounts for malpractice insurance. Meanwhile, they're getting squeezed by insurance companies on how much they get paid for visits. My gynecologist is retiring early due to the ACA requirement that annual woman wellness exams are "free". The insurance companies don't reimburse her enough for these to make it worth her while to practice. Another poster mentioned her derm would not remove multiple lesions in one session because he wasn't compensated enough that way. I'm afraid we're just going to see more of this in the future. I also agree that doctors are not interchangeable. Like any profession, some are better at it than others. Just remember, someone was last in their class at Harvard and still got their degree…
I hope you learn that this weird spot is nothing to worry about and goes away on its own.
Cheers,
Maggie
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- April 7, 2016 at 10:47 pm
I agree, Anonymous, there has been a decrease in quality of care over the years. The 10-minute appointments are truly annoying. But to be fair, I believe Doctors are in a rough spot these days. They start with massive student loan debt and have to pay ridiculous amounts for malpractice insurance. Meanwhile, they're getting squeezed by insurance companies on how much they get paid for visits. My gynecologist is retiring early due to the ACA requirement that annual woman wellness exams are "free". The insurance companies don't reimburse her enough for these to make it worth her while to practice. Another poster mentioned her derm would not remove multiple lesions in one session because he wasn't compensated enough that way. I'm afraid we're just going to see more of this in the future. I also agree that doctors are not interchangeable. Like any profession, some are better at it than others. Just remember, someone was last in their class at Harvard and still got their degree…
I hope you learn that this weird spot is nothing to worry about and goes away on its own.
Cheers,
Maggie
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- April 6, 2016 at 3:21 pm
That was my first thought….a blood blister. But the location and the color pattern was not like a blister. Not elevated, no recall of any trauma.
I guess waiting and watching is really all I can do at this point, since I have found no derm that seemed better than the average bear.
In the past, prior to health issues, I assumed that all doctors were competent because they had gone thru all that training, and some had a number of years of experience. Don't think that anymore and the 10 minute appointment thing has made it worse.
In relation to another health issue, I was surprised that the doc instantly went to the most expensive big machine testing, when an ultrasound was the normal approach and there was no reason not to do it first. Are they trying to pay for their expensive machines? This was a multiple doctor practice with their own machines. Patients have got to be on their toes these days, can't just walk in anywhere and get the best.
-
- April 6, 2016 at 3:21 pm
That was my first thought….a blood blister. But the location and the color pattern was not like a blister. Not elevated, no recall of any trauma.
I guess waiting and watching is really all I can do at this point, since I have found no derm that seemed better than the average bear.
In the past, prior to health issues, I assumed that all doctors were competent because they had gone thru all that training, and some had a number of years of experience. Don't think that anymore and the 10 minute appointment thing has made it worse.
In relation to another health issue, I was surprised that the doc instantly went to the most expensive big machine testing, when an ultrasound was the normal approach and there was no reason not to do it first. Are they trying to pay for their expensive machines? This was a multiple doctor practice with their own machines. Patients have got to be on their toes these days, can't just walk in anywhere and get the best.
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- April 6, 2016 at 2:32 pm
This sounds more like a blood blister than melanoma. Trauma, not cancer. I just don't think you'd see something appear suddenly then go away in a short amount of time and have that be melanoma. It would be nice if our immune system were that swift and immediate, but I don't think that's reality. In general, you typically wait several weeks to see if something "resolves" and it sounds like this is resolving on its own. Melanoma wouldn't do that. Obviously, this is just a best guess and the final word would be at least talking to a derm. Even they would most likely let it alone to see if it continues to resolve before doing a biopsy. You get to make the call on waiting or talking with a derm.
-
- April 6, 2016 at 2:32 pm
This sounds more like a blood blister than melanoma. Trauma, not cancer. I just don't think you'd see something appear suddenly then go away in a short amount of time and have that be melanoma. It would be nice if our immune system were that swift and immediate, but I don't think that's reality. In general, you typically wait several weeks to see if something "resolves" and it sounds like this is resolving on its own. Melanoma wouldn't do that. Obviously, this is just a best guess and the final word would be at least talking to a derm. Even they would most likely let it alone to see if it continues to resolve before doing a biopsy. You get to make the call on waiting or talking with a derm.
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Tagged: cutaneous melanoma
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