› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Small Raised Freckle
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[email protected].
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- September 24, 2012 at 7:03 pm
Hi All Again,
Hi All Again,
I'm sorry but I have another question and any response may help me sleep. I just recently had a spot on my back removed. It was a freckle that appeared out of no where and started to get bigger and reddish. It came back as melanoma. It was only .25mm breslow depth so they did wide incision surgery only and did not check my lymph nodes because the oncologist said it was not needed. Of course now I am seeing spots everywhere. I have not even got the stitches out from the wide incision and I have discovered a freckle on the same shoulder that is mysteriously raised. I am not a moley person but I do have a lot of freckles and to my knowledge this is the only one that is raised. The oncologist did look at this spot for a breif moment when I went in last week but he said that I only have the one primary spot and that was probably it. I have like a 2% chance that it will ever come back and I should be happy. But I still terrified. Can it appear as a raised freckle because if you google raised freckle you get melanoma?! Has anyone had more than one primary? and this may be a stupid question but can one be deeper than the other? This mysterious raised freckle has me very concerned. I understand I should be happy about .25mm breslow but from what I have read there was a 4% chance that I would ever get melanoma in the first place so the 2% chance of it coming back seems pretty likely to me:(
Beth
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- September 24, 2012 at 7:16 pm
Janner can correct me if I'm wrong, I think the statistic is something like 8% get more than one primary. Each individual primary is separate and has its own pathology, so yes, one primary can have a different Breslow depth than another. I can tell you this – not to discount your concern over the raised freckle – but after I was diagnosed, every pigmented lesion I had I started to look at differently and they all started looking suspicious to me. I've probably had 25-30 biopsies in the last year since my diagnosis, and so far no more have come back as anything more than mildly atypical dysplastic nevi, etc… but once I was diagnosed with the initial melanoma, all my nevi looked really ominous to me. I think that is the natural response.
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- September 24, 2012 at 7:16 pm
Janner can correct me if I'm wrong, I think the statistic is something like 8% get more than one primary. Each individual primary is separate and has its own pathology, so yes, one primary can have a different Breslow depth than another. I can tell you this – not to discount your concern over the raised freckle – but after I was diagnosed, every pigmented lesion I had I started to look at differently and they all started looking suspicious to me. I've probably had 25-30 biopsies in the last year since my diagnosis, and so far no more have come back as anything more than mildly atypical dysplastic nevi, etc… but once I was diagnosed with the initial melanoma, all my nevi looked really ominous to me. I think that is the natural response.
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- September 24, 2012 at 7:41 pm
Thank you so much:) Yes everything is looking strange. Thank you so much for responding. I do have a second opinion scheduled about the mysterious freckle:)
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- September 24, 2012 at 8:05 pm
with regard to your melanoma, this might be a resource you'd find valuable: http://www.cancerhopenetwork.org/index.php?page=findamatch
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- September 24, 2012 at 8:05 pm
with regard to your melanoma, this might be a resource you'd find valuable: http://www.cancerhopenetwork.org/index.php?page=findamatch
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- September 24, 2012 at 8:05 pm
with regard to your melanoma, this might be a resource you'd find valuable: http://www.cancerhopenetwork.org/index.php?page=findamatch
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- September 24, 2012 at 7:41 pm
Thank you so much:) Yes everything is looking strange. Thank you so much for responding. I do have a second opinion scheduled about the mysterious freckle:)
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- September 24, 2012 at 7:41 pm
Thank you so much:) Yes everything is looking strange. Thank you so much for responding. I do have a second opinion scheduled about the mysterious freckle:)
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- September 24, 2012 at 7:16 pm
Janner can correct me if I'm wrong, I think the statistic is something like 8% get more than one primary. Each individual primary is separate and has its own pathology, so yes, one primary can have a different Breslow depth than another. I can tell you this – not to discount your concern over the raised freckle – but after I was diagnosed, every pigmented lesion I had I started to look at differently and they all started looking suspicious to me. I've probably had 25-30 biopsies in the last year since my diagnosis, and so far no more have come back as anything more than mildly atypical dysplastic nevi, etc… but once I was diagnosed with the initial melanoma, all my nevi looked really ominous to me. I think that is the natural response.
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- September 24, 2012 at 9:25 pm
Has the raised freckle "changed"? I don't care if any of my freckles are raised, flat or whatever. My back is covered with them. I only care if they change. Take pictures of the ones that you don't like. In a month, check for change. You can check sooner than that as you get started with photos, but the deal is change over time and most melanomas take their own sweet time changing. If you notice something itching or changing rapidly — or changing slowly over time, that is a time for a biopsy. I would seriously doubt that your raised freckle is anything of concern. It's pretty uncommon to have more than one primary (yes, around 8%) and it's pretty common to have fears that everything is changing after a diagnosis. The trick is to reign in the imagination and use photos, if possible, to confirm that things are stable.
Best wishes,
Janner
3 MM primaries, stage IB since 1992
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- September 24, 2012 at 9:25 pm
Has the raised freckle "changed"? I don't care if any of my freckles are raised, flat or whatever. My back is covered with them. I only care if they change. Take pictures of the ones that you don't like. In a month, check for change. You can check sooner than that as you get started with photos, but the deal is change over time and most melanomas take their own sweet time changing. If you notice something itching or changing rapidly — or changing slowly over time, that is a time for a biopsy. I would seriously doubt that your raised freckle is anything of concern. It's pretty uncommon to have more than one primary (yes, around 8%) and it's pretty common to have fears that everything is changing after a diagnosis. The trick is to reign in the imagination and use photos, if possible, to confirm that things are stable.
Best wishes,
Janner
3 MM primaries, stage IB since 1992
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- September 24, 2012 at 9:25 pm
Has the raised freckle "changed"? I don't care if any of my freckles are raised, flat or whatever. My back is covered with them. I only care if they change. Take pictures of the ones that you don't like. In a month, check for change. You can check sooner than that as you get started with photos, but the deal is change over time and most melanomas take their own sweet time changing. If you notice something itching or changing rapidly — or changing slowly over time, that is a time for a biopsy. I would seriously doubt that your raised freckle is anything of concern. It's pretty uncommon to have more than one primary (yes, around 8%) and it's pretty common to have fears that everything is changing after a diagnosis. The trick is to reign in the imagination and use photos, if possible, to confirm that things are stable.
Best wishes,
Janner
3 MM primaries, stage IB since 1992
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- September 24, 2012 at 11:50 pm
Janner,
Thank you I will start taking pictures. That may help my fears. The freckle raising is the change. I have never had a raised freckle. That is why it took me by surprise.
Beth
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- September 24, 2012 at 11:50 pm
Janner,
Thank you I will start taking pictures. That may help my fears. The freckle raising is the change. I have never had a raised freckle. That is why it took me by surprise.
Beth
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- September 24, 2012 at 11:50 pm
Janner,
Thank you I will start taking pictures. That may help my fears. The freckle raising is the change. I have never had a raised freckle. That is why it took me by surprise.
Beth
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- September 24, 2012 at 10:32 pm
Hi Beth,
Your feelings are very normal for someone newly diagnosed. The Dr already looked at this freckle, so I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. I can't tell you how many times I've been CONVINCED I have another melanoma just to find out its benign. All that worrying for nothing! Raised freckles are normal for me. Changing is key. You probably have not been watching your skin, so start today and that will empower you. Cancer grows and changes. So get to know your skin as it is now. It's good you do not have a lot of freckles/moles to watch! You'll be fine.
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- September 24, 2012 at 10:32 pm
Hi Beth,
Your feelings are very normal for someone newly diagnosed. The Dr already looked at this freckle, so I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. I can't tell you how many times I've been CONVINCED I have another melanoma just to find out its benign. All that worrying for nothing! Raised freckles are normal for me. Changing is key. You probably have not been watching your skin, so start today and that will empower you. Cancer grows and changes. So get to know your skin as it is now. It's good you do not have a lot of freckles/moles to watch! You'll be fine.
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- September 24, 2012 at 10:32 pm
Hi Beth,
Your feelings are very normal for someone newly diagnosed. The Dr already looked at this freckle, so I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. I can't tell you how many times I've been CONVINCED I have another melanoma just to find out its benign. All that worrying for nothing! Raised freckles are normal for me. Changing is key. You probably have not been watching your skin, so start today and that will empower you. Cancer grows and changes. So get to know your skin as it is now. It's good you do not have a lot of freckles/moles to watch! You'll be fine.
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Tagged: cutaneous melanoma
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