Suspicious Dark Mole

C

carolyn122162

Cathlete
Well I am completely freaking out. I took my DS to the dermatologist today to have 2 growths removed. It looked to me like they were both large skin tags (one on his buttocks and the other between his butt cheeks). One was a large mullescum (sp?) and the other a mole. Not a pleasant visit for a 15 year old.
Anyway, while the doc was prepping to remove the raised mole from in between his cheeks, she noticed a very dark flat mole between his cheeks near his anus. The look on her face sent chills up my spine. I could just see her mind racing as to what she was going to say without freaking out my son. She said it definitely needs to be removed and biopsied. She never mentioned the word melanoma but I sure saw it in her expression.
What has me so frantic is that she isn;t going to remove it until his next appt on Aug. 30th. She wanted him to heal b/4 she removed it since it will probably require stitches (no stitches today). My gut instinct tells me to get it removed asap just for peace of mind if nothing else. School starts soon and I don't want to have the hassle of him missing school.

What would any of you do if this were your child?? I need some sound advise. I have already left message for the doc to call me in the a.m.

Thanks for listening
Carolyn;(
 
Oh, Carolyn! I'm so sorry. I don't know how you can possibly wait that long. I would not be able to. I would speak to her privately, when your DS is not in the room. Tell her you saw the look on her face, and really want to be sure there is no harm in waiting another 4 weeks. Also, I would do some research on the internet. Please let us know what happens.
 
I agree with Nancy. Don't wait. Speak with the doctor privately and address your concerns about her initial reaction and the reasons you would rather not wait. If I were in your shoes, I would push her to schedule the procedure sooner. And please let us know what happens.

MissL
 
This is so scary - the feeling. I am so sorry. Go with your gut and talk to the DR.

I don't have children of my own yet, but someday I will - I pray. I would feel the same way here!!!!!!!!







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Carolyn

I would get it taken care of right away. My sis is a Mohs surgeon at Geisinger (a well-known health system in PA). She is a dermatologist, and she did a fellowship in Mohs. Anyway, if it is in fact cancerous, many, many skin cancers are treated successfully if caught early (and it seems like this was). If there is the option available, seek out a Mohs surgeon because you will know when you DS leaves the appointment with the surgeon that all of the cancer is gone (a Mohs procedure consists of the doctor removing very thin layers of the skin and checking it under a microscope-it's complete when all the cancer is gone). Yes, it is very scary to think your DS may have skin cancer, but there is such a high success rate. Thank God your doctor caught it now. Let's hope it is just a mole! I'll keep you and your DS in my prayers.
-Jen
 
OK, here is what I think.

The doctor would not have suggested you wait if she thought it would put his health at risk. I think the look on her face was not so much because of the mole, but because of where the mole was located. Not to be insensitive but she wanted to spend as little time there as possible! She thought she was finished with that "area" and she suddenly discovered she isnt. Something else to consider is teenage boys and cleanliness. And with this mole being in the area in which it is, that place is hard to keep clean. Perhaps she is invisioning several return trips due to complications. I am sure that is a painful area to have an injection of numbing agent as well. A lot went through her mind.

I do not think he would have stitches for the first removal. First she will do a "scooping out" of the mole and that will be tested. If there are any abnormal cells, he will go back to have more removed, resulting in stitches.

I know more and more kids are getting skin cancer but it is not the norm. It is much more common in adults. So I honestly would do what the doctor suggests and not fret so much. I think he is too young to have skin cancer.

Please come back and tell us the outcome. (but I know it will be good)
 
Carolyn,



You are doing the right thing by being proactive with your childs health concerns and you can call everyday to check on the results. If the nurses know you are anxious, sometimes they will call you as soon as they are in.

Keep the sights clean and put the topical antibiotic on everyday because that helps the healing.

Sending {{{HUGS}}} and prayers to you and your son.

Kathy
 
Carolyn,

I'm sorry that you're upset. I would talk to the Dr. ASAP to ease your mind. I'm thinking like Madonna though that if it was something she was concerned about she would have done the procedure today.

Let us know what she says after you speak to her.
 
Okay, take a deep breath! My DH just had a cancerous mole removed from his face. He went in and they took a scraping, and they called to say it was cancerous. We freaked out!
Luckily my DH is a very good friend of one of the leading dermatologists in the world-he wrote the texbooks other derms read to get through school. He stated that these are very common, nothing to worry about.In fact he stated that he wished they would not use the "c" word at all,when diagnosing these types of moles!

These are very common. And sure enough,my DH had the removal done in about an hour, they got all the cells and he is healing nicely. They scheduled his removal two months after they diagnosed it, so try not to worry, they would have gotten him right in, if in fact they thought this was very serious.
 
Carolyn, how frightening! It won't hurt to call and talk to the doctor. Thinking of you all...I will keep you & your DS in my prayers.


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Your-Friend-In-Fitness, DebbieH (AKA "Den Mother Debbie") http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/aktion/action-smiley-066.gif[/img] If You Get The Choice To Sit It Out Or Dance, I Hope You DANCE!
 
Jen,

There actually is a Mohs surgeon with this practice. His brother is a very good friend of my husbands. If I have to I will go thru him to get this removed.

Madonna, you do have a point. The doc did express her concerns about the location of the 2nd mole. She wants the first one to heal completly first b/c of bacteria issues. I guess she didn't want him to have 2 sites in that area and have a greater risk of infection.

I called and left a messge for the doc to call me back. I want to make absolute sure that we can wait 4 weeks to get this removed. I want to know what the doc would do if this were her child. Early detection and treatment is definitely the key. I prefer earlier rather than later.

Thanks to everyone for their prayers and hugs. I will keep you posted.

Carolyn
 
Hi Carolyn,
I had to pop in to tell you that even if this turns out to be a melanoma, there's a VERY VERY good chance that it will be taken care of immediately and never return. I have a history of malignant melanoma, and I know that there is nothing scarier than that wait for the results. I think you are doing the right thing by speaking to your doctor about your concerns with the timing.

Since you say that it is a flat mole, that is probably why he will need stitches. they inject a solution that will cause it to raise up so that they can remove all of it, and it usually only requires a couple of stitches (i'm an expert patient, lol!).

If it does come back as malignant melanoma, he will have to go back to have a larger area removed in a simple in-office surgery. this of course will require quite a few more stitches. however, in many cases, the issue will stop there, and he'll be perfectly fine! and keep in mind that there's a very good chance that it will come back completely benign! my husband has about 3 flat moles that are very dark, and he's had them biopsied and they are all benign. not every dark mole is bad. i hope you get great news after your ds's biopsy.

Lots of luck to you both, and please let us know what his doctor says. I hope the info i provided gives you some peace of mind, i know exactly how you are feeling right now, as i've felt it way too many times myself. big hugs to you while you digest all of this!
 
Oh how scary for you.

((Hugs and prayers))

Janie

The idea is to die young as late as possible

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Well I spoke w/my DS doc today and she decided to go ahead and remove
the mole tomorrow instead of waiting 4 weeks. I am greatly relieved but at the same time still worried that she wants to remove it asap. I will keep you updated with the results when I get them.

Thanks again for all your prayers and support.

Carolyn
 
>
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>I will be sending some good thoughts your way for tomorrow.
>
> :)
>
>Kathy

Me too! Lots of luck tomorrow.
 
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