Sparky16
18-06-17, 00:51
I have a lot of anxiety about skin cancer (I know that's pretty common here). This past November I had the dermatologist PA look at a raised red spot on my back. She said it was an angioma, and they normally don't remove those unless they snag on clothing and bleed. I was sort of reluctant, but I've asked them to remove so much other stuff over the past year, I tried to be reasonable and let it go.
To make things more complicated this spring I had a new little white bump show up on my upper lip near my nose, which the PA said was either an angiofibroma or a mole, and I had it taken off because I felt like the wicked witch of the west with this wart like thing on my lip. Turns out it was a basal cell cancer, and I had to have Mohs surgery afterward.
This past week I went in for my annual skin check and I had decided beforehand that I wanted this angioma on my back removed, partly because it worried me that it was in a spot where it was hard to monitor it, and also I thought it was kind of gross anyway. The PA said they would send it to pathology just to be on the safe side. They send everything to the pathologist, even if it was only removed at the patient's request - good thing for my basal cell cancer!
When the PA looked at it, she no longer thought it was an angioma (although she said it could be that after I asked about the previous diagnosis in November). Her list of possibilities to go with the sample for the pathologist were an irritated mole or skin tag. She also added neurofibroma during the biopsy. She said that it didn't look like skin cancer, and she didn't think it was anything serious.
So now I have the week long wait for results, and I find myself worrying about melanoma. I know the PA said it didn't look like skin cancer, however she was already wrong once before! And why would I have an irritated mole in a spot where I never had a mole before until recently? I'm 44, too old to be getting new moles. I keep trying to remember if it had changed in the last 8 months (I was keeping an eye on it). It didn't seem to look any different width wise, but I'm not sure if maybe it got a little taller? I'm kicking myself for not getting this thing taken off last November, no matter how crazy it made me look.
I've been so worried I didn't eat anything all day yesterday, and then when I tried to eat something late last night, my stomach was upset. I've been spending all my time googling (yes, I know that is very bad).
Thanks for listening. I can't tell anyone what I'm going through, and I was hoping that writing it all out here might help.
To make things more complicated this spring I had a new little white bump show up on my upper lip near my nose, which the PA said was either an angiofibroma or a mole, and I had it taken off because I felt like the wicked witch of the west with this wart like thing on my lip. Turns out it was a basal cell cancer, and I had to have Mohs surgery afterward.
This past week I went in for my annual skin check and I had decided beforehand that I wanted this angioma on my back removed, partly because it worried me that it was in a spot where it was hard to monitor it, and also I thought it was kind of gross anyway. The PA said they would send it to pathology just to be on the safe side. They send everything to the pathologist, even if it was only removed at the patient's request - good thing for my basal cell cancer!
When the PA looked at it, she no longer thought it was an angioma (although she said it could be that after I asked about the previous diagnosis in November). Her list of possibilities to go with the sample for the pathologist were an irritated mole or skin tag. She also added neurofibroma during the biopsy. She said that it didn't look like skin cancer, and she didn't think it was anything serious.
So now I have the week long wait for results, and I find myself worrying about melanoma. I know the PA said it didn't look like skin cancer, however she was already wrong once before! And why would I have an irritated mole in a spot where I never had a mole before until recently? I'm 44, too old to be getting new moles. I keep trying to remember if it had changed in the last 8 months (I was keeping an eye on it). It didn't seem to look any different width wise, but I'm not sure if maybe it got a little taller? I'm kicking myself for not getting this thing taken off last November, no matter how crazy it made me look.
I've been so worried I didn't eat anything all day yesterday, and then when I tried to eat something late last night, my stomach was upset. I've been spending all my time googling (yes, I know that is very bad).
Thanks for listening. I can't tell anyone what I'm going through, and I was hoping that writing it all out here might help.