Amy

Hello, again. I just wanted to update my thread as a courtesy to anyone reading this in the future.

I had my mole fully excised at an NHS hospital one week ago today. At the time, I was told my results could take between 2 and 6 weeks (OMG), but the dermatologist indicated she was trying to put a rush on my results (yay, but also scary that she thought it was so urgent).

Well, today, exactly one week later, I got a phone call at precisely 8 a.m. from my dermatologist telling me she had my results. (One week is lightspeed for the NHS right now.) Since it had only been a week and she was calling me at the earliest socially acceptable time of the morning, my heart leapt in my throat as I expected the worst. However, she said she had good news, and it was NOT melanoma. (I felt like an elephant moved its giant butt off my chest for the first time in weeks at that moment.)

She said it was a dysplastic nevus and they “got it all,” so no further surgery is required. She was getting ready to write my full report and mail it to me, but she knew I’d been very worried during my surgery, so she gave me a call to put my mind at ease as soon as possible. My head was spinning and she woke me up, so I didn’t ask any questions. I just profusely thanked her and said I’d look for the report in the mail.

I understand that there are degrees of dysplasia that can take place, from mild to severe. I’m not sure what mine was yet. I assume the report will tell me. However, her comments gave me the impression that if the margins hadn’t been clear that she would have wanted to do a wider excision. Is that correct? Is a dysplastic mole considered benign or simply non-cancerous (pre-cancerous?)? Am I at any increased risk in the future because of this?

I’m so relieved by the news, but I’m also glad that I finally had that mole looked at and it’s been removed, just in case. My doctor was keen to perform a complete excision as opposed to a punch or shave biopsy and, given the result, I’m happy she did.

My advice to others waiting for a biopsy is to stay off of Google and don’t try to diagnose yourself. I was convinced I had melanoma because my dermatologist noted a possible blue-grey veil when looking at my mole under a dermascope. While that feature does apparently increase the risk of it being melanoma–thus giving the dermatologist very good reason to excise it–it clearly isn’t as definitive as I feared after consulting Dr. Google.

Keep calm and wait for your results. (So much easier said than done, I know.)

Thank you to everyone who commented on my original post and offered support. I wish everyone here the very best.

Thanks so much, Mark. I’m a bit calmer today. I keep telling myself I’ve done what I can, and I need to let that be enough until I know more.

And, yes, I’m getting care from the NHS, and they’ve been great so far.

Best of luck to you and thanks again.

Amy

 

Thanks so much for your kind reply, Ireland1. I’m trying so hard to be calm and hope for the best. I’m just so afraid I’ve really messed up by leaving the mole unchecked for years, thinking it had always been there, so things were fine. I have no idea when–or even if–its appearance changed. It turns out that glancing down at your calf from an awkward angle a couple times a year doesn’t give you an accurate idea of what’s going on. Sigh. I just took a picture on a whim, not because I noticed anything different. So I hope it’s early, but if the itching has anything to do with it turning cancerous, that’s been happening on and off for years.

I’m driving myself mad thinking I’ve left it too long. I just have to wait and see, and place some faith in the fact that I seem to be in good health and hope that means things haven’t gone too far.

Thank you again for your reply. I really appreciate it. Hearing a voice of reason and compassion really helps in this situation. All my best to you.