Nodular melanoma

[fairyloveheart]

Hello
I am so scared. I found this round blood blister type thing on my hip, bloody looking, almost black, red then around it. I googled and I think it is nodular melanoma.

Went to the docs this morning, and he looked at it with the magnifier and just said it was blood inside not pigmentation so he thinks it is a blood blister? He said, only time will tell and told me not to write my will just yet, in a really flippant way. He said to go back in a few weeks...

A few weeks, i am in such a major panic. I read this is the most aggressive type, often misdiagnosed as a blood blister, how would I have a blood blister there, I haven't trapped the skin or anything.

I don't remember seeing it before, just last night....

I want to see my baby grow up, he is only ten months old and I am so scared this is it :weep:

[AllInMyHead]

You poor thing, I'm not surprised you're worried (especially after you googled :doh:).

Here's what I think. You said you haven't noticed it before, so I think it's almost certainly a blood blister - they appear instantaneously. Your skin on your hip isn't very sensitive, and with a 10 month old to keep your eye on you might well have caught it without noticing. Anything sinister would have appeared slowly, so you would have noticed it previously.

Even *if* it were anything bad, a couple of weeks won't make any difference. Give it a few days to see if gets any better - I'm sure it will. Perhaps take a photo now so you can compare in a week to see if it has changed? Then you can ignore it for a few days. And try not to prod and poke at it. If you do it will get sore, then you will be even more worried.

And, I googled on your behalf (I'm not anxious about my skin so I'm allowed :)), and on the first page of images was one that looks EXACTLY like a freckle / mole I have on my arm. It's small, has two different tones in it and has a ragged edge. Mine isn't cancerous. I took it to the doctors about 10 years ago when I first noticed it, they said they weren't worried unless it grew or changed, and it hasn't. The point I'm making is that just because it looks like something bad, doesn't mean it is something bad.

And, on top of this, your GP had a close look at it and said it's blood, not pigmentation. It's extremely unlikely that he's got it wrong. Sounds like his flippancy didn't help, but I'm sure it was intended to cheer you up.

:hugs:

[fairyloveheart]

Thank you for your response, much appreciated. It said it grows deep before it grows across so changes on the surface are hard to monitor. I keep thinking those two weeks will make a difference, but you are probably right.

I am now thinking back and think I did see something months ago, but because it was a pin prick I ignored it and haven't thought about it since, until yesterday when I think I must have caught it or something as it is sore and bigger. It is about 5mm across. It feels hard though, not like a blood blister.

I know I won't be able to think about anything else now :( My husband says to go back Thursday and ask to be referred and pay to go private if they won't refer me on the NHS....I suppose that is an option...

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I think I have looked on every site that exists with Nodular melanoma on.....
x

[fairyloveheart]

I am now aching all over, my neck glands are up and my back, arms, neck etc are aching. It hurts. I am worried it is the cancer spreading through me....

[Worried_Male]

I am now aching all over, my neck glands are up and my back, arms, neck etc are aching. It hurts. I am worried it is the cancer spreading through me....

Within the space of a couple of days? No chance! You noticed this mole and now you are getting these problems. It's your mind playing tricks on you.

[relika]

I had a melanoma scare a couple of months back and visited my GP for it. There had been a red shiny "mole" on my underarm for weeks, and it wouldn't go away. It wasn't there before and appeared all of a sudden.

I was convinced I had some form of pigmentless melanoma. It occupied my mind for weeks and got worse with the day, when I noticed the "mole" was still there.
When I visited my GP, he took one glance at it and said that "oh that's completely benign". It was a cyst (I forgot the exact name) that I got from shaving my arms.

Just like you, I googled. Not very good idea to google moles and melanoma. Only a doctor can tell the difference. They know what to look for, and I think your doctor checked the blister quite well. If you're worried, go back and tell him your worries. Perhaps he can explain a bit better to you why he thinks it is not melanoma, but a blood blister.

[Rugrat]

I had a melanoma scare when I was about 23 when I found a mole on my
Leg that was hard and bleeding I went to my GP and he said I would have to go to the hospital
With it in those days there was no Google so I went to the library and looked it up in books
And like you when I read what it said about melanomas I shit myself I was convinced I had weeks
To live I went home and told my wife I had cancer and I was going to die for 2 weeks I thought I was
Dying then one morning I got up and it was gone it just fell off I went back to the doctor and showed
Him the scar and that was that I scared myself to death for 2 weeks over nothing
there is one thing we all seem to forget and that is that even if we do get cancer it does not mean
We will die from it lots and lots of people get over it

[fairyloveheart]

Thank you for your replies. It is the type I am worried most about, as the net says this is the most lethal, the one that appears from nowhere, like a blood blister. It has kind of scabbed a bit today, but the pictures look identical to how it looks. If it is that, then the prognosis is very poor as it invades deeply and quickly, which is why I am worrying about the waiting two weeks.:weep:
I don't know whether to go back to the gp and ask to be referred or would they just say no?

[b4eve]

D'you know I have a mole on my hip that's got me a bit worried. When I first noticed it I thought maybe it was a blood blister because it was dark and slightly reddish. That was three months ago and I've been watching it since then and in that time it seems to have become a bit less red in colour (but tbh I don't really trust my own eyes) but besides that no change, I measured it at 2mm and it's still 2mm. It doesn't really have any hallmarks of melanoma but I'm suspicious because I think it's a relatively new thing and I'm 43 and it's unusual to get new moles at 43. Do you know the EFG criteria for assessing nodular melanoma? Elevated, Firm and Growing. But I'm pretty sure there are benign lesions that could mimic these signs and I'm pretty sure that even if it were a nasty, then 2 weeks wouldn't make a crucial difference. I understand your worry though, normally I want everything dealt with yesterday :winks: There are all sorts of complicated reasons why I've done nothing about the mole that concerns me but the important thing is that I'm aware of it and I know it isn't really doing anything. You and your GP are both on the case with yours so I'm sure it'll be fine

[AllInMyHead]

The problem with google is that you've used it to find a serious illness with symptoms that match exactly what you have. You've also managed to find information that backs up your fear that your GP has got it wrong. Then you got anxious about it, which has made you feel ill, with symptoms that someone with cancer might have, so now you are more worried. So now you're in stuck in the HA spiral.

What you didn't find on google were the thousands of other things that would present exactly the same symptoms as you have that are completely benign. You also didn't find the experience that your GP has had through his training and experience of dealing with people with the same symptoms as you. He knows based on this that it's a dead cert to be a blood blister. He also knows that, in the very extreme chance that it's not, waiting a couple of weeks wouldn't make any difference to the prognosis.

It's very difficult to listen to the voice of reason when you are in the spiral (I know, I didn't, lol). If going back to the doctor, or seeing a different doctor will make you feel better, then you definitely should go back. Otherwise, give it a few days. And also remember, if you do go back and ask for a referral and get one, that doesn't mean it's cancer, that means they gave you a referral because you asked for one :).

[fairyloveheart]

Thank you for taking the time to reply, it is much appreciated.

I have a lot of these cherry angioma things since I had my baby and hubs thinks perhaps it is one of those that has got scratched.

It isn't getting any bigger, but of course I read they grow in depth not width(!) :wacko:

It looks more scabby than at the start of the week. Am trying to make myself wait as long as I can bear it, so I don't go back to the docs too soon and then get sent away....

I have an achy shoulder now on the same side.

I wish I didn't have this health anxiety, and wish that I could just chill out and not worry so much until I get a diagnosis. X