Bert'n'Stella

Hi all,

Bit of feedback and advice pls if you can help!

After the thread on skin cancer (and a gazillion ads on tv) I took myself off to the doctors on Monday to get my moles checked. They used the sciascope to check them. This UK machine uses light to look at the various layers (top, middle and bottom) and blood supply to ascertain if a mole may be melanoma.

Anyway, the ones I thought were dodgy turned out to be fine, but there is a tiny one on my neck which registered badly. So after 4 days of worrying I was booked today to have it removed. After a local injection, the doctor then decided it is too close to the jugular vein and not worth the risk to do it - yet. So I need to go back end of next month to have it checked again and see if it has changed.

So now I don't know how to feel! Am quite worried about it still being there and possibly doing bad things while I leave it alone, but on the other hand am quite pleased that my jugular is still in good working order. Albeit I have this odd white patch around the site (which I am hoping is from the local, mind you that was now 6 hours ago!) and a strange itchy rash down one arm which I also hope is not related. Am putting that down to stress!

So if anyone can lend some advice, I would be grateful. ie, has anyone had their moles checked with a sciascope and had anything removed? If so did the pathology say it was bad?

Thanks for listening....

Stella (who is now drinking her glass of bubbles to calm down )

Wendy

I have no experience of this kind of thing, but wanted to reassure you a little.

I am sure if the doc thought it was very serious they would have removed it there and then. The rash does sound like stress, I get them occassionally. They seem to be on the ball as they are keeping their eye on it and if there is any change then they will be able to remove it quite quickly.

Try not to worry too much (I know it's easier said than done). I am sure you will be fine.

Wendy

angel17796

My mum has had a few taken off a couple of years back. She was left with a couple of tiny little white marks that you cant really see. The funny thing is she is never in the sun. She has very fair skin and red hair so if she even looks at the sun she is likely to get burnt. She is always very careful in covering up etc.

That was about 4 years ago i think and she hasnt had any trouble since.

Hope ur okay and try not to worry too much about it.

thebears

My mum has this done every 6 months - and has had to undergo 3 operations in last 5 years to have growths removed. Not wanting to scare you but the need is great to get checked out.

She has also found the general standard and awareness in the UK very poor - in NZ it was treated as top priority. Also my best man who recently returned to NZ from UK had it done - he is only 32 and had to have an Op straight away. In the UK the particular growth on his back was seen by a doctor who said he had nothing to worry about.

Important thing to remember is early detection can remove before damage is done.

The Johnstons

I've had a couple of moles removed but that was for cosmetic purposes only, so I can't comment on your experience. I just wanted to say good luck with everything and I hope you can get the problem resolved quickly. Let us know how you get on.
Tracey