Waiting on Biopsy- TORTURE [Archive]

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NervUs

29-04-17, 18:50

I let a skin thing go. Instead of running the dermatologist, I decided to watch and wait, as it wasn't growing and felt soft and like some other gunk I have on my skin. This went on probably a year or morre. IDK.

Anyway, dermatologist PA took it off, and now I am convinced it was nodular melanoma. It looks exactly like pictures on the internet. I really through I was doing the right thing y watching and waiting, buut....several hours into google and nope. Wrong instinct1

I have like 2 more weeks to wait. I am trying to function, and I'm doing better than I have during past biopsy waits (I am a person who constantly gets biopsied, as I get a lot of bumps and abnormalities throughout my body, not just skin, lucky me, whoop). Still, I am getting preoccupied and so irritated at my husband who is acting like nothing is going on. I have 3 kids, the youngest is only 3, and being their mom makes this feel so high stakes.

Really just venting. I don't know how I'm going to get through 2 weeks, cry!

Drisque

29-04-17, 20:01

I had a black mole a few years back. I too, waited a while before getting it checked. My thought process while waiting for the biopsy result was exactly the same, but it came back as being benign, and I'm sure yours will too. Google told me it was melanoma, but it twas not.

NancyW

29-04-17, 21:53

Google strikes again?

Pretty sure this is feeding the dragon.

I totally get this fear, several years ago I did the very same thing, the pictures on the internet looked identical to my black spot and it was pure torture waiting for my phone to ring.. it turned out benign.

swajj

30-04-17, 01:35

When doctors say wait and watch they mean for about 3 weeks not a year. Don't start reading into things because most of those things turn out to be nothing. Any new spot etc I get on my skin I immediately show it to my doctor.

NervUs

30-04-17, 18:45

You probably didn't mean to swajj, but that post was pretty much rubbing salt in the wound. I already feel bad enough I let the spot go so long.

korega

01-05-17, 02:47

I had a huge ugly mole removed 3 years ago. It was in a country where melanoma is very rare so I had to wait 4 weeks for the result. Torture is right. Went back after 4 weeks for the follow up and result and what do you know, they havent got the results back from the lab. Unbelievable. The doctor could see I was anxious so he promised he would call me with the result sometime that week. My mole had every single hallmark of a melanoma. Like if you google image melanoma, my mole very well could have been the first hit. The pathologist didn't see many come through the lab and ended up sending it to a university hospital to do some dna/rna stain test...

Anyway, the doc's assistant called a few days later and said that the mole was benign. 30 some days to get that result. Taught me a lot about patience and controlling my anxiety so as to be able to function in everyday life.

Leslie735

01-05-17, 18:59

I'm sure everything will be fine, I will be praying! Keep us posted. *hugs*

NervUs

05-05-17, 14:38

I got my results back after only 9 days. Whoop.

Basal cell carcinoma.

Feeling relieved but bummed at the same time. Mostly relieved though.

CHELLEB1017

05-05-17, 15:13

Did they get it all? I know that is a cancer that is so common and very rarely ever spreads!

NervUs

05-05-17, 16:48

Not sure.

I am going back in two weeks to get more excised. They will check then to see if they got it all.

CHELLEB1017

05-05-17, 16:50

Well I am so happy it was not the terrible M word!!!

NervUs

06-05-17, 01:12

Me too.

Part of the reason it scares me so much is because my sister had it. She is fine, luckily, but hers was amelanotic just like this one was!

I went through a major melanoma panic 3 years ago and so decided that part of getting better was to stop checking. I was literally finding things to go to the dermatologist like every single month. I guess I went a little overboard and will NOT be doing that again, lol

CharmaineD

11-05-17, 17:40

I know how worrying that wait can be for those results. Mine took days and it was not good news. But guess what here I am 100% fine. The only thing is this did no favours for my anxiety, now I strangely have no more fear of Melanoma I find other diseases to obsess over....sigh.

HopelessWorrier2011

21-05-17, 17:24

NervUs

21-05-17, 20:18

Hi NervUs,

Can you explain to me what your blemish looked like? I have one on my arm that I have been fretting about for weeks. A nurse practitioner has assured me it looks fine no pigmentation etc but that to me doesn't rule out basal cell. I'm going through a severe bout of skin cancer anxiety at the moment. Mine looks like a raised bit of crinkled skin no soreness and smaller than a tip of a pencil rubber xx

Mine looked nothing like any picture of basal cell carcinoma I've seen. It was reddish-brown and pretty soft and wobbly, no pain or itching. It seemed like a slightly more firmly attached skin tag, like countless others I have on my body. It was about 6 mm.

I have been completely freaked about this ever since finding out, and the one thing I've taken from my excessive googling is that BCC presents in a huge variety of ways. I am not saying yours necessarily sounds suspicious, but it is the easiest thing in the world to get a second opinion. I think I would in your case and probably just ask to have it removed. The waiting is not fun, but it gives you your answer! You could just have a SK forming, or even acitinic keratosis (which is considered a possible squamous cell precursor- I also had one of those pop up right after my BCC, or any number of totally benign things.

I am freaking over my skin so bad right now. Everything seems suspect. I know BCC is the "good" skin cancer, but it doesn't feel that great to me simply because I have so many spots and moles and weird things all over my skin. I have new found appreciation for skin cancer, but taking care of it early seems to make it a nonevent. If I can somehow get through the anxiety about all the stuff I have let go (I have a second opinion skin check in late June), I THINK my head space will improve. Skin paranoia sucks though- I, at least, have stuff breaking out constantly, and it is really hard to remember everything.

Good luck- just get your second opinion and it will all be fine!

HopelessWorrier2011

21-05-17, 22:27

Thank you for your response. I'm almost certain I will seek a second opinion. The skin is such a huge organ it's almost impossible to control the health anxiety attached to it x

coastgirl

22-05-17, 02:04

I went through a huge skin scare a year ago. I had 2 things biopsied....one I was convinced was nodular amelatonic melanoma on my cheek. The dermo wanted to biopsy it. The wait nearly sent me into a 7 day panic attack. Had to go to the urgent care to get Xanax because I couldn't function. The one I was worried about came back benign, but the other one came back as BCC. The fact that ONE was skin cancer (even though not Melanoma) gave me a year long intense struggle with anxiety. I feel your pain! I have to go in and get my skin checked soon and I have been putting off the appointment I have developed a HUGE phobia of the dermatologist as a result :(

NervUs

22-05-17, 03:15

Sorry coastgirl.
I think the root of my worry is that I HAD melanoma panic like 4-5 years ago. As part of getting over it, I really stopped checking my skin. I did go to my annual skin checks, but that was it, and I would sometimes schedule every 1.5.

So now, I am out of practice with my skin. I know I've had some stuff a long time but can't exactly remember how it used to look. Of course, I can't fully trust doctor opinions, especially since the PA scanned right over my bump and I was like, "what about this one?"

I have a really weird vascular pattern on my nose. It's not really noticeable unless you really look and know where to look, but it looks like white rings around a center. THe PA at my skin check didn't say anything about it (but must have seen it under those lights), then I went to a second dermatologist who really examined them and looked at them with a dermascope and she determined they were just the way my blood vessels lay (I have about 7 of them on my nose, and they are other places too, but you kind of have to dig around to find them).

Even though I left without a biopsy, I can not get over....what if she is wrong????? I know at least two have been there a long time, and every time I look I find more. I guess I would be the unluckiest person alive to have that many BCCs on a regular sized nose and two medical people passed them over as not cancer- and one taking a lot of time investigating them.

But, that's hypochondria for you. The fact that dermatologists ARE wrong often enough is the only thing I can think of. I've made another appointment for late June and hoping I can just get this cleared up once and for all. I also DO give credence to the idea that biopsying everything can do more harm than good, and this is right on the tip of my nose- so cosmetically an issue, which doesn't fully matter to me but it is something.

Damn, feels good to just get it out.

Sorry Charmaine that you got bad news and that you have switched your fears to other cancers- but also glad you aren't fearing melanoma anymore, even with a history. I am dreaming of the day when I can just release all the fear, so releasing fear of something you've actually had is some kind of step forward, I think.

Thelegend27

22-05-17, 05:30

Google always comes up with the worst case scenario, don't freak out, wait for the results before you take action.

Anxiety is a nightmare believe me I know, but the worst thing to so is let it get the better of you.

Think positive thoughts, if your doctor didn't seen too concerned than just relax. Most of the time when you have something removed from your body it gets biopsied it's just a precaution.

HopelessWorrier2011

22-05-17, 09:08

Skin cancer anxiety is the worst one I have experienced by far as there is so much of it!