Hello – I don’t have a diagnosis of melanoma at this time but was still hopeful that I could get some help. My dad passed away from recurrent melanoma on 12/26/21 after a short but intense disease course. He went from “normal” in mid-Oct to using a cane by late Nov (due to spinal mets), to passing away 12/26. It is still surreal to me to reflect upon what happened to him.
During his illness, I noticed a mole in my belly button. That is not an area that sees a lot of daylight – I’m a heavy middle age (41) woman. I saw my dermatologist on 12/28 and she excised (I’m not sure what kind of biopsy was done) that mole and one one my calf. The one on my calf was benign but the belly button one was “atypical”. She would like me to see a different doctor to have a wider excision done. I was offered choice of a derm who does that type of surgery, a general surgeon, or a plastic surgeon.
I’m leaning toward going with a dermatologist to do the excision. Does that seem like the best choice? I’m not concerned about scarring, as I mentioned that area is not one I ever make public. She said that the atypical mole places me at a higher lifetime risk for melanoma, along with my dad having had it, so yearly skin checks should be done. She is also going to freeze something off of my nose this week Wednesday. She would have done it on 12/28/21 when I first saw her but I didn’t want a big red nose for my dads funeral 2 days later. Is there anything else I should do to follow up? Thank you so much everyone for sharing your wisdom and experiences here over the years.
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