› Forums › General Melanoma Community › How quickly does a melanoma can grow, how fast should i act
- This topic has 39 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 9 months ago by
ekimap.
- Post
-
- July 20, 2013 at 6:08 am
Hi,
I'm new to the forum and probably have the same question and fears as most, but I prefer to ask rather than not.
Here is my situation. I'm 39. My wife discover what is a 1cm wide mole near my ear on the edge of my hair 8 days ago. We were immediately surprised because we never saw it before and due to location, we can't see why we would have missed it, especially after my last hair cut 1 month ago which would have exposed it in full. So we're concerned.
Hi,
I'm new to the forum and probably have the same question and fears as most, but I prefer to ask rather than not.
Here is my situation. I'm 39. My wife discover what is a 1cm wide mole near my ear on the edge of my hair 8 days ago. We were immediately surprised because we never saw it before and due to location, we can't see why we would have missed it, especially after my last hair cut 1 month ago which would have exposed it in full. So we're concerned.
I immediately went to see my family doctor who made a referal for a dermatologist. yesterday i was booked for teleconsultancy, where I saw a nurse who took pictures of it and is now sending the pics to a dermatologist of initial assessement. They say a response would come within 4 weeks and most of the time within a week, depending on how many patients they have to deal with.
I've taken macro pictures 7 days ago and yesterday and the thing seems to have evolved quite a bit, not in diameter but in thickness. It's now more raised. Here are the pictures: http://postimg.org/image/98qliukyf/
Given this rapid change, the fact we never saw it before in a place that should have been seen and the possible wait for weeks to get an answer, I'm more concerned. Also I'm travelling next week for business and am wondering if I should cancel to go see someone else fast.
How quickly can these things grow and how fast one should act. Are we talking days, weeks, months, years?
Thanks for any advice.
Manu
- Replies
-
-
- July 20, 2013 at 6:56 am
Hi Manu
I am at Stage 4 disease and must have had about 20 moles removed over the years. 2 have been found to be malignant melanona. A lot of excisions for a low hit rate you may think – but one of those got me to Stage 4! Two things I've learned over the years is that it is very difficult for yourself and your derm to pick out the real baddies from the harmless ones even following all the published criteria and secondly not all derms have enough experience with melanoma to be able to ascertain the harmless ones with any degree ot accuracy. .Personally myself and my derm adopt a conservative approach and remove anything that we dont like the look of and might have changed since last quarterly visit – the initial excision under local aneasthetic is painless enough. A small scar from that may save much bigger scars from lobectomies, radical dissections etc later. Photos can be deceptive and the zoom on your 3rd photo may be higher than the first two but if I was in your position I would be finding a good melanoma derm and having that removed for biopsy asap.
John
-
- July 20, 2013 at 6:56 am
Hi Manu
I am at Stage 4 disease and must have had about 20 moles removed over the years. 2 have been found to be malignant melanona. A lot of excisions for a low hit rate you may think – but one of those got me to Stage 4! Two things I've learned over the years is that it is very difficult for yourself and your derm to pick out the real baddies from the harmless ones even following all the published criteria and secondly not all derms have enough experience with melanoma to be able to ascertain the harmless ones with any degree ot accuracy. .Personally myself and my derm adopt a conservative approach and remove anything that we dont like the look of and might have changed since last quarterly visit – the initial excision under local aneasthetic is painless enough. A small scar from that may save much bigger scars from lobectomies, radical dissections etc later. Photos can be deceptive and the zoom on your 3rd photo may be higher than the first two but if I was in your position I would be finding a good melanoma derm and having that removed for biopsy asap.
John
-
- July 20, 2013 at 6:56 am
Hi Manu
I am at Stage 4 disease and must have had about 20 moles removed over the years. 2 have been found to be malignant melanona. A lot of excisions for a low hit rate you may think – but one of those got me to Stage 4! Two things I've learned over the years is that it is very difficult for yourself and your derm to pick out the real baddies from the harmless ones even following all the published criteria and secondly not all derms have enough experience with melanoma to be able to ascertain the harmless ones with any degree ot accuracy. .Personally myself and my derm adopt a conservative approach and remove anything that we dont like the look of and might have changed since last quarterly visit – the initial excision under local aneasthetic is painless enough. A small scar from that may save much bigger scars from lobectomies, radical dissections etc later. Photos can be deceptive and the zoom on your 3rd photo may be higher than the first two but if I was in your position I would be finding a good melanoma derm and having that removed for biopsy asap.
John
-
- July 20, 2013 at 8:07 am
Thanks John, your quick reply is much appreciated.
I should have clarified that the picture on the right and the high res one are from the same day. diameter hasn't change, but look and surface has.
I'm wondering if I need to cancel my business trip and get to see a derm in a matter of days or if a week is ok. I'm just not sure how quickly these things develop. Any idea?
manu
-
- July 20, 2013 at 8:07 am
Thanks John, your quick reply is much appreciated.
I should have clarified that the picture on the right and the high res one are from the same day. diameter hasn't change, but look and surface has.
I'm wondering if I need to cancel my business trip and get to see a derm in a matter of days or if a week is ok. I'm just not sure how quickly these things develop. Any idea?
manu
-
- July 20, 2013 at 12:18 pm
I would think the faster you acted the better just because no one “really” knows. You know what I mean? The whole process takes longer then it should take…my opinion:)
Isabell -
- July 20, 2013 at 12:18 pm
I would think the faster you acted the better just because no one “really” knows. You know what I mean? The whole process takes longer then it should take…my opinion:)
Isabell -
- July 20, 2013 at 12:18 pm
I would think the faster you acted the better just because no one “really” knows. You know what I mean? The whole process takes longer then it should take…my opinion:)
Isabell -
- July 20, 2013 at 2:14 pm
Hi Manu. Our situations are eerily similar – same age, quickly growing mole. My reco is just go to a recommended derma in your area and have it removed. If they try to push you out weeks or months b/c you are a new patient, just tell them that you have a rapidly changing mole that you need looked at asap. Even if your insurance bogs down with referals/etc… just go to a good derma and they will undoubtedly biopsy it.
Good luck, and I hope you aren't a new member of our club
Jeff
-
- July 20, 2013 at 2:14 pm
Hi Manu. Our situations are eerily similar – same age, quickly growing mole. My reco is just go to a recommended derma in your area and have it removed. If they try to push you out weeks or months b/c you are a new patient, just tell them that you have a rapidly changing mole that you need looked at asap. Even if your insurance bogs down with referals/etc… just go to a good derma and they will undoubtedly biopsy it.
Good luck, and I hope you aren't a new member of our club
Jeff
-
- July 20, 2013 at 2:14 pm
Hi Manu. Our situations are eerily similar – same age, quickly growing mole. My reco is just go to a recommended derma in your area and have it removed. If they try to push you out weeks or months b/c you are a new patient, just tell them that you have a rapidly changing mole that you need looked at asap. Even if your insurance bogs down with referals/etc… just go to a good derma and they will undoubtedly biopsy it.
Good luck, and I hope you aren't a new member of our club
Jeff
-
- July 20, 2013 at 2:53 pm
Manu, if you had the feeling of a heavy weight on your chest and shortness of breath, it might be indigestion or a hiatal hernia. Or it might be a heart attack. If you had a business trip planned, would you wait until after your trip to get it checked out? Do you think that would be wise? I hope not. Even if you feel foolish when it turned out to be indigestion, wisdom is wisdom. And if it was a heart attack, wouldn't you feel smart?
I have never heard of a melanoma growing this fast. I have never heard of anything else, either, that grew this fast except maybe a flesh-eating bacterial infection. Cancel or delay your trip and get it checked out. Remember, nobody puts on their tombstone "I wish I had spent more time in the office."
-
- July 20, 2013 at 2:53 pm
Manu, if you had the feeling of a heavy weight on your chest and shortness of breath, it might be indigestion or a hiatal hernia. Or it might be a heart attack. If you had a business trip planned, would you wait until after your trip to get it checked out? Do you think that would be wise? I hope not. Even if you feel foolish when it turned out to be indigestion, wisdom is wisdom. And if it was a heart attack, wouldn't you feel smart?
I have never heard of a melanoma growing this fast. I have never heard of anything else, either, that grew this fast except maybe a flesh-eating bacterial infection. Cancel or delay your trip and get it checked out. Remember, nobody puts on their tombstone "I wish I had spent more time in the office."
-
- July 20, 2013 at 2:53 pm
Manu, if you had the feeling of a heavy weight on your chest and shortness of breath, it might be indigestion or a hiatal hernia. Or it might be a heart attack. If you had a business trip planned, would you wait until after your trip to get it checked out? Do you think that would be wise? I hope not. Even if you feel foolish when it turned out to be indigestion, wisdom is wisdom. And if it was a heart attack, wouldn't you feel smart?
I have never heard of a melanoma growing this fast. I have never heard of anything else, either, that grew this fast except maybe a flesh-eating bacterial infection. Cancel or delay your trip and get it checked out. Remember, nobody puts on their tombstone "I wish I had spent more time in the office."
-
- July 20, 2013 at 3:03 pm
Thank you to all for the advices, which I have followed. I managed to get it checked by an good dermatologist who said that based on the macro picture, she had no doubt and it isn't a melanoma. The picture shows none of the signs of a melanoma and instead it confirmed it to be seborrheic keratosis, which is benign. She also added there wasn't a need to cancel the trip at this stage, adding if she'd had any doubt she would have advised against the trip. So a big relief!
I'm still gonna follow a full investigation.
Thanks again for all your responses.
Manu
-
- July 20, 2013 at 3:03 pm
Thank you to all for the advices, which I have followed. I managed to get it checked by an good dermatologist who said that based on the macro picture, she had no doubt and it isn't a melanoma. The picture shows none of the signs of a melanoma and instead it confirmed it to be seborrheic keratosis, which is benign. She also added there wasn't a need to cancel the trip at this stage, adding if she'd had any doubt she would have advised against the trip. So a big relief!
I'm still gonna follow a full investigation.
Thanks again for all your responses.
Manu
-
- July 20, 2013 at 3:03 pm
Thank you to all for the advices, which I have followed. I managed to get it checked by an good dermatologist who said that based on the macro picture, she had no doubt and it isn't a melanoma. The picture shows none of the signs of a melanoma and instead it confirmed it to be seborrheic keratosis, which is benign. She also added there wasn't a need to cancel the trip at this stage, adding if she'd had any doubt she would have advised against the trip. So a big relief!
I'm still gonna follow a full investigation.
Thanks again for all your responses.
Manu
-
- July 20, 2013 at 3:04 pm
Thank you to all for the advices, which I have followed. I managed to get it checked by an good dermatologist who said that based on the macro picture, she had no doubt and it isn't a melanoma. The picture shows none of the signs of a melanoma and instead it confirmed it to be seborrheic keratosis, which is benign. She also added there wasn't a need to cancel the trip at this stage, adding if she'd had any doubt she would have advised against the trip. So a big relief!
I'm still gonna follow a full investigation.
Thanks again for all your responses.
Manu
-
- July 20, 2013 at 3:04 pm
Thank you to all for the advices, which I have followed. I managed to get it checked by an good dermatologist who said that based on the macro picture, she had no doubt and it isn't a melanoma. The picture shows none of the signs of a melanoma and instead it confirmed it to be seborrheic keratosis, which is benign. She also added there wasn't a need to cancel the trip at this stage, adding if she'd had any doubt she would have advised against the trip. So a big relief!
I'm still gonna follow a full investigation.
Thanks again for all your responses.
Manu
-
- July 20, 2013 at 3:04 pm
Thank you to all for the advices, which I have followed. I managed to get it checked by an good dermatologist who said that based on the macro picture, she had no doubt and it isn't a melanoma. The picture shows none of the signs of a melanoma and instead it confirmed it to be seborrheic keratosis, which is benign. She also added there wasn't a need to cancel the trip at this stage, adding if she'd had any doubt she would have advised against the trip. So a big relief!
I'm still gonna follow a full investigation.
Thanks again for all your responses.
Manu
-
- July 20, 2013 at 9:14 pm
Manu,
I recently had a similar thing. Mine was a sore on the side of my face near my ear. It got enlarged, sore, and after a week, it just went down and in it's place was a SK – just like yours. One week it didn't exist, the next week it was there. I had mine looked at, too, and they also confirmed a SK. SK's can get very large and can look very similar to melanoma (mine Dad has some large ugly black ones on his back), but their borders are usually very defined. Mine is almost skin color at this point so I will probably leave mine alone unless it continues to change.
Best wishes,
Janner
-
- July 23, 2013 at 8:57 pm
Just a note of caution. Nodular melanoma does not follow any of the guidlines for standard superficial spreading melanoma. And it is commonly mistaken for other skin conditions. Doctors misdiagnose or dismiss nodular type too often. This is very dangerous since it grows very quickly and straight down. I would definitely follow up on this and if it doesn't "go away" like it should, and continues to grow in any way, I would have it removed regardless of what the Dr. says.
See my blog page on nodular and this page on skin checking!
http://missionmelanoma.blogspot.ca/2013/03/nodular-melanoma-kind-i-had-second-time.html
http://skincheck.org/Page4.php
But I sincerely hope it is something benign and will just go away with treatment!!!!
All the Best!
Pam
-
- July 23, 2013 at 8:57 pm
Just a note of caution. Nodular melanoma does not follow any of the guidlines for standard superficial spreading melanoma. And it is commonly mistaken for other skin conditions. Doctors misdiagnose or dismiss nodular type too often. This is very dangerous since it grows very quickly and straight down. I would definitely follow up on this and if it doesn't "go away" like it should, and continues to grow in any way, I would have it removed regardless of what the Dr. says.
See my blog page on nodular and this page on skin checking!
http://missionmelanoma.blogspot.ca/2013/03/nodular-melanoma-kind-i-had-second-time.html
http://skincheck.org/Page4.php
But I sincerely hope it is something benign and will just go away with treatment!!!!
All the Best!
Pam
-
- July 23, 2013 at 8:57 pm
Just a note of caution. Nodular melanoma does not follow any of the guidlines for standard superficial spreading melanoma. And it is commonly mistaken for other skin conditions. Doctors misdiagnose or dismiss nodular type too often. This is very dangerous since it grows very quickly and straight down. I would definitely follow up on this and if it doesn't "go away" like it should, and continues to grow in any way, I would have it removed regardless of what the Dr. says.
See my blog page on nodular and this page on skin checking!
http://missionmelanoma.blogspot.ca/2013/03/nodular-melanoma-kind-i-had-second-time.html
http://skincheck.org/Page4.php
But I sincerely hope it is something benign and will just go away with treatment!!!!
All the Best!
Pam
-
- July 20, 2013 at 8:07 am
Thanks John, your quick reply is much appreciated.
I should have clarified that the picture on the right and the high res one are from the same day. diameter hasn't change, but look and surface has.
I'm wondering if I need to cancel my business trip and get to see a derm in a matter of days or if a week is ok. I'm just not sure how quickly these things develop. Any idea?
manu
-
- July 20, 2013 at 8:07 am
Thanks John, your quick reply is much appreciated.
I should have clarified that the picture on the right and the high res one are from the same day. diameter hasn't change, but look and surface has.
I'm wondering if I need to cancel my business trip and get to see a derm in a matter of days or if a week is ok. I'm just not sure how quickly these things develop. Any idea?
manu
-
- July 20, 2013 at 8:07 am
Thanks John, your quick reply is much appreciated.
I should have clarified that the picture on the right and the high res one are from the same day. diameter hasn't change, but look and surface has.
I'm wondering if I need to cancel my business trip and get to see a derm in a matter of days or if a week is ok. I'm just not sure how quickly these things develop. Any idea?
manu
-
- July 20, 2013 at 8:07 am
Thanks John, your quick reply is much appreciated.
I should have clarified that the picture on the right and the high res one are from the same day. diameter hasn't change, but look and surface has.
I'm wondering if I need to cancel my business trip and get to see a derm in a matter of days or if a week is ok. I'm just not sure how quickly these things develop. Any idea?
manu
-
- July 20, 2013 at 9:14 pm
Manu,
I recently had a similar thing. Mine was a sore on the side of my face near my ear. It got enlarged, sore, and after a week, it just went down and in it's place was a SK – just like yours. One week it didn't exist, the next week it was there. I had mine looked at, too, and they also confirmed a SK. SK's can get very large and can look very similar to melanoma (mine Dad has some large ugly black ones on his back), but their borders are usually very defined. Mine is almost skin color at this point so I will probably leave mine alone unless it continues to change.
Best wishes,
Janner
-
- July 20, 2013 at 9:14 pm
Manu,
I recently had a similar thing. Mine was a sore on the side of my face near my ear. It got enlarged, sore, and after a week, it just went down and in it's place was a SK – just like yours. One week it didn't exist, the next week it was there. I had mine looked at, too, and they also confirmed a SK. SK's can get very large and can look very similar to melanoma (mine Dad has some large ugly black ones on his back), but their borders are usually very defined. Mine is almost skin color at this point so I will probably leave mine alone unless it continues to change.
Best wishes,
Janner
-
Tagged: cutaneous melanoma
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.