› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Can melanoma suddenly appear?
- This topic has 12 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 4 years, 7 months ago by
RICK4357.
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- July 17, 2019 at 9:14 pm
In 2016 I had stage 1b melanoma on my inner right calf. Just yesterday when I was at the dentist I was showing her the scar from my WLE because it has healed to the point of being almost invisible.Tonight I got in the shower after going for a run and about an inch from the WLE scar there is a sizable red spot. It’s not a pimple (it’s too big for that any way) and is not a scratch or mosquito bite. I am not aware of pinching my calf in a way that would have resulted in a blood blister, plus it’s in a somewhat awkward place to have done that.
A Google search and a search of this forum turns up vague statements like “melanoma can appear suddenly.” Does that mean overnight or in a matter of hours?
I wrestle with anxiety since the melanoma diagnosis (I have had systemic lupus since I was 12, so had not been in the sun since 1982, so the diagnosis shocked me).
I’d like to wait a week and see if there are any changes, but the fact that it popped up so quickly worries me — if it IS melanoma and it’s moving that fast, can I wait a week?
Can melanoma show up that suddenly?
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- July 17, 2019 at 9:21 pm
A sizable red spot that appears in 1 day is very unlikely to be cancer.-
- July 17, 2019 at 10:39 pm
Thank you for the reply, Edwin. I was thinking the same thing, but having someone else say it is very helpful. I’ll watch the spot over the next week.I admit I get quite impatient because I went to my GP here in London 3x over a year when I was worried about the mole that turned out to be melanoma. Each time they said it was fine and to just keep an eye on it, which I did, only to go back to the GP and be told the same thing. It was only when I went to visit my family at home in the US and saw a dermotologist there that it was taken seriously and diagnosed. I ended up having surgery, etc., in the US with no health insurance (as I am an ex-pat living in the UK). To say I now have trust issues with the UK’s health service is an understatement.
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- July 19, 2019 at 3:06 am
This is Sue we have had other conversations here, about melanoma and auto-immune diseases., I think Ed is right, highly unlikely to be anything of concern.The statistical odds are with you, especially three years out. , I definitely understand your concern given your prior treatment experience.
However, since you have had a previous melanoma, I would hope they are more likely to be concerned, if you are and insist on a biopsy.
I hope the red spot clears and you don’t have to worry about it. I’m still in hot, sunny California and I see you are still in London.
Best wishes! Sue
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- July 20, 2019 at 2:09 pm
Thank you, Sue.Yes, still in London, where it has been VERY sunny this summer. While it’s nice to have a break from the grey and rain, I have gone through 10x as much sunscreen as usual for a summer.
The spot has shrunk, but has not gone away. I’ve got an appointment scheduled with the GP for the 29th, but as you know, this gives me no confidence. My next skin check with the dermatologist is in October. With the National Health Service, there is no insisting on a biopsy – I would have had my initial melanoma biopsied a year earlier if that was possible. So, I’m going to begin the long process of arguing with the GP that I need an urgent referral, then argue with the dermo that I need the spot biopsied. I’m exhausted just thinking about it. My dermo in the US would remove it even if he thought it was harmless because of the anxiety it causes me. Health care shouldn’t be this hard.
Hope you are well!
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- July 21, 2019 at 12:59 am
Well here is hoping the spot is gone by the 29th. I definitely understand the anxiety. I have psoriasis so I get new spots randomly, so I truly understand. Good news is my psoriasis is mostly under control, so I have to wait and see if the spots clear with cortisone and act like psoriasis. Sometimes even after having psoriasis for years, I can’t tell w.hat they are. There are so many things that can pop up on your skinMedical care here can be easy like you described, but it can be hard with some of the HMO’s. My free insurance through my husband, called kaiser would not necessarily biopsy just because I requested it.
However, my current dermatologist, private outside of the HMO, is great and will biopsy if you ask, but is very confident in identifying troublesome spots. He hasn’t found any in the three years since my lovely melanoma popped up in July of 2016.One suggestion, there are a lot of dermatologists, mine included you can email with a picture and they are fairly good as giving you a diagnosis with good pictures. The cost is I think $60 dollars. It is not definitive, but could be used to augment your argument to your primary care doctor there in the UK, if they felt your sport was a problem. Maybe the dermatologist in Texas would do it for you?
Other than roasting in the heat, all is well.
Sue
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- July 21, 2019 at 6:24 pm
Hi Sue, after reading the other posts above I see that you are trying to give advice to a problem based on the UK health care system, which is frustrating and I get that. Where I would be really careful is giving advice about getting medical advice from a picture and a dermatologist making an evaluation on such photo. I am not an expert on early stage stuff but MRF has a pretty good link (see below) that covers early stage issues, more specific there is a video that features dr. Whitney High on youtube that I would recommend you take a look at. It goes super deep into pathology and how they decide if the tissue sample is melanoma, and it should show you how hard it is even with all the staining techniques to make an accurate melanoma diagnosis and the legal aspect of being wrong if you are a pathologist. https://melanoma.org/patients-caregivers/cutaneous-melanoma/diagnosis-cutaneous/?fbclid=IwAR1DS1fHdMgTVB6EqUWEMkJ0NqAB3K4IgSl8DwYYPjEslmp3DxICgF-uSOg -
- July 22, 2019 at 2:58 am
Hello Ed,Just to be clear I didn’t say it would be a definitive diagnosis, but only used to augment her argument to get a biopsy in the UK. The doctors I was referring to both do happen to be melanoma specialists.
I understand only too well the legal ramifications of giving medical advise as I do practice as a medical malpractice attorney.
Ii will watch the video with interest. It was actually my cousin, who is a dermatopathologist who made the suggestion of a video consult, not as a final diagnosis but as a step in aiding the attainment of a biopsy.
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- July 23, 2019 at 12:07 am
Hi Sue, have you had a chance to watch the video? If the answer is yes, can you now see how hard it is even under a microscope to make a melanoma call in some cases and how looking at a photo and making any kind of determination is not recommended!!! Take Care!!!Ed
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- July 18, 2019 at 11:22 pm
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This appeared on my hip within a day. I saw my dermatologist in the morning and it wasn’t there as I had a full body check. When I went for a bath a night I spotted it and pointed it out to my husband who agreed that it definitely hadn’t been there earlier in the day. The doc said watch and wait but within 4 weeks it was 3mm wide and 0.5mm deep. It turned out to be my 4th Melanoma within 9 months.
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