Anyone experience a melanoma?

Found something suspicious this morning and of course have to wait for Monday to call my dermatologist.. It is tiny, dark old mole with irregular edges, and a white spot in the middle, no other colors within.The changes in appearance are rcent. I know there are benign and malignant types of melanomas. Various treatment options? Kind of anxious about this. Of course I have been goggling pictures of these all morning. Would anyone be interested in sharing the experience

Melanoma is by definition malignant but can be treated successfully if caught early. There are a few types of skin cancer that are not nearly as dangerous. I've had basal cell and squamous cell cancers, both very treatable with relatively minor surgery. And then there are benign lesions like keratoses. Try not to panic, and try to stop googling pictures! But do get to a dermatologist, if only to ease your anxiety.

My mom had one on her neck removed over 6 or 7 years ago. Not a big deal having caught it early. Call first thing Monday to get an appointment within the next few weeks (not really necessary to panic yet), have it removed and evaluated and keep vigilant for others that might change, but don't obsess. ><

I've had a few suspicious moles removed, but nothing was found. Skin cancer is one of the easiest cancers to cure. Let's see, anything else I can say to calm you down? Stay away from Doctor Google!!!

Let us know how it turns out.

(Thank goodness the emoticons are back! )

Don't panic but do get it checked out. I had a melanoma in situ which is considered stage 0 (just in the top layers of the skin). It was excised with no problems and I am so thankful that it was caught early. I couldn't see it myself without being a contortionist (my dermatologist found it) but from the photos I saw it looked dark brown with a very irregular border. I have had plenty of weirder-looking things biopsied that turned out to be fine.

yes - i have had several at different stages- too advanced for Mohs

a kind person on MOL suggested http://www.summitmedicalgroup.com/doctor/hnadiminti/

who was wonderful

heads up- once you have been diagnosed with cancer it is on your permanent record - even if they removed all of the cancer-- so if you need to update your life insurance do so ahead of time

I keep thinking this is my punishment for all my sun bathing, back in Texas as a teen, many years ago, staying away from Google for sure,TMI! Thanks for the encouragement, Spike_Jones and musicmz,so happy for the good outcome for your mom! Any other comments, posters?

Chiming in to say, stay away from doctor google. Many normal moles also look like melanomas. You need a professional to make the call in removing it, sending it out, having it assessed. So calling on Monday is a good idea, and telling them that it has changed is very important. My step-mother had a melanoma, caught early, excised and no other treatment.

It is important to remember that some people continue to make new moles all their lives, and that is normal for them. One dermatologist told me that he first looks at the landscape of a person's skin, and looks for things that don't look like they belong rather than having an absolute standard for a mole.

Hope your fears are quickly put to rest.

1. My brother also had Stage 0 successfully removed several years ago. Nothing since then.

emmie said:
I keep thinking this is my punishment for all my sun bathing, back in Texas as a teen, many years ago, staying away from Google for sure,TMI! Thanks for the encouragement, Spike_Jones and musicmz,so happy for the good outcome for your mom! Any other comments, posters?

I grew up in Texas and now have a bunch of skin damage in spite of avoiding the sun when I was young. It's one of the hazards of living in a hot climate with an Irish complexion. Just had four Moh's procedures in the space of ten days. I hope that's it for a while. Good luck!

I also had a melanoma in situ which is very early stage. I'm so thankful that it was caught early and was able to be removed with no problems.

I would not stress yourself by googling images. Try not to worry yourself over the weekend. I have had other suspicious moles removed and they turned out to be fine.

Had stage 0 moving to stage 1 with MOHS surgery about 4 years ago and graduated from going to Sloan Kettering every 3 months to twice a year. (My cousin died from it and my other cousin is battling it). Nothing since. Good luck!

BTW melanoma is always malignant. Basal and Squamish cell cancer are very common but benign. People confuse this a lot.

ETA melanoma is rarely a tiny mole. Usually the size of an M&M or larger. You're most likely fine

I thought melanoma as well as basal and squamish are all skin cancers and therefore the last two are not benign in the sense that they're still cancers but they are in situ and and slow growing skin cancers and never if rarely metastasize, unlike melanoma that grows quickly, deeply and will often metastasize many years after one thinks they're cured.

My mom had an advanced stage melanoma.. She also had basal cell and had a MOHs procedure for that. Happy to share the experience if anyone would benefit from hearing it. She is currently cancer free but in a clinical trial she to the advanced stage of the melanoma

My advice is to get to a dermatologist and get a professional opinion before worrying about how you will deal with a melanoma. It could be a melanoma, but it could also be one of the less dangerous cancers or even just a mole that has changed but is still a mole (I've personally had that happen).

I have been dealt with a melanoma scare in the past month. By chance I found something on the back of my leg which looked nasty. I don’t know how long it was there as it’s in a very hard spot to see. I got a dermatologist appt the same day I called. The doctor felt it was a keratosis which I’ve had before. The
following week she called back with the results which shocked me: melanoma in situ stage 1A. I had the excision 6 days later with the results that all margins are clear. Whew Don’t panic, but don’t put off getting it looked at.

Oh Susan23, how very scary, hope all is well now. I am absolutly not putting this off!

To all who responded, thanks for your very helpful info. Will update after appoinment.

At a routine exam in May, my doc zeroed in on something on my shin and insisted on taking a biopsy -- something that I had thought was a bug bite. Turned out to be squamous cell carcinoma "in situ", for which she was able to do what she calls "scrape and burn." Indeed, she removed most of the cells when she was gathering the biopsy, so she had little to do when I returned for the actual procedure.

Definitely see a dermatologist and try not to stress too much. My father has had skin cancer for at least a decade, but he's still with us and doing totally fine , though certainly with more scars all over his body. He goes to his dermatologist at least once a month to get checks and removals. It's not the most fun, but certainly seems to be "catchable" as long as you keep on it and have a good dermatologist. I'm pretty sure my father and his dermatologist are in agreement at this point in his life and vanity, (he's 64) where they just lop off anything that looks suspicious even if it leaves a scar across his cheek. My primary care doc said at my age (32) I don't need to worry so much about it but I will begin doing regular checks soon, since my dad and I share that lovely English skin (though he was crazy about putting sunscreen on me when I was little so I haven't suffered too many bad burns). Please share which dermatologist you go to, as I'll be in the market soon.

Good luck!!