chibear
11-01-18, 14:49
Hello everyone.
This is my first post on here. I really hate to post as my health anxiety has caused me embarrassment over the years, but I just needed somewhere to share my thoughts.
Yesterday I had three moles removed by family physician (it’s something he specializes in and enjoys doing). It’s really got me in panic mode, however. I tend to fit some of the risks for melanoma. I have fair skin, however I have dark hair and dark eyes. My mom and Dad have many moles on their back, and I have several atypical moles it seems. There doesn’t seem to be a family history of melanoma.
I had a rather large mostly round brown mole removed from my back, slightly larger than a pencil eraser probably. It just looked like a large mole. One of my friends says it’s been there for a few years. Hopefully she told me that in truth and not to just make me feel better. I honestly can’t remember. He also removed a fairly black mole from my lower back. That one I’m pretty sure has been there for years and hasn’t changed much, but I’m panicking because I just don’t know.
I guess why I’m concerned so much is I just remembered I had two severely atypical moles removed about 4 years ago and never did the proper follow ups I should have. And now I’m regretting it. I’m horribly scared that because I didn’t check my skin as much as I should have and done the necessary follow ups that I missed something. I’m horrified for the biopsies. I also have a small but atypical looking mole on my upper back that is black with rough borders that is worrying me. My doctor wanted to remove that one or the one on my back this time, and I chose the one on my back because I can’t see it. I honestly have no idea how long the one on my upper back as been there.
For what its worth, my physician who does the removals doesn’t seem that concerned. He wants to remove multiple possible atypical looking moles from my back in stages over the next year. He told me none of them “screamed” melanoma and that I shouldn’t worry, but that he doesn’t know 100% sure. He likes to remove whole moles and send them for biopsy.Also, I tend to Google which is a big problem. I guess what is making this ten times worse is the fact that I had those really bad ones removed a few years ago and now it’s too late and I’ll be diagnosed with skin cancer. I’ve had a few sunburns over my life, but I don’t really try to tan or anything. I’m sorry for this long post, but I just really wanted to get my thoughts out there. I can’t eat, sleep, work, etc. I’m so frightened. I have a wonderful girlfriend of 3 months who I know this is affecting, and I hate it. My health anxiety was doing very well until all of this and some other stuff over the last month. I’m really concerned about having a melanoma that progressed to stage 4 or something. My doctor says not to worry about that, but I do. Google has ruined me.
This is my first post on here. I really hate to post as my health anxiety has caused me embarrassment over the years, but I just needed somewhere to share my thoughts.
Yesterday I had three moles removed by family physician (it’s something he specializes in and enjoys doing). It’s really got me in panic mode, however. I tend to fit some of the risks for melanoma. I have fair skin, however I have dark hair and dark eyes. My mom and Dad have many moles on their back, and I have several atypical moles it seems. There doesn’t seem to be a family history of melanoma.
I had a rather large mostly round brown mole removed from my back, slightly larger than a pencil eraser probably. It just looked like a large mole. One of my friends says it’s been there for a few years. Hopefully she told me that in truth and not to just make me feel better. I honestly can’t remember. He also removed a fairly black mole from my lower back. That one I’m pretty sure has been there for years and hasn’t changed much, but I’m panicking because I just don’t know.
I guess why I’m concerned so much is I just remembered I had two severely atypical moles removed about 4 years ago and never did the proper follow ups I should have. And now I’m regretting it. I’m horribly scared that because I didn’t check my skin as much as I should have and done the necessary follow ups that I missed something. I’m horrified for the biopsies. I also have a small but atypical looking mole on my upper back that is black with rough borders that is worrying me. My doctor wanted to remove that one or the one on my back this time, and I chose the one on my back because I can’t see it. I honestly have no idea how long the one on my upper back as been there.
For what its worth, my physician who does the removals doesn’t seem that concerned. He wants to remove multiple possible atypical looking moles from my back in stages over the next year. He told me none of them “screamed” melanoma and that I shouldn’t worry, but that he doesn’t know 100% sure. He likes to remove whole moles and send them for biopsy.Also, I tend to Google which is a big problem. I guess what is making this ten times worse is the fact that I had those really bad ones removed a few years ago and now it’s too late and I’ll be diagnosed with skin cancer. I’ve had a few sunburns over my life, but I don’t really try to tan or anything. I’m sorry for this long post, but I just really wanted to get my thoughts out there. I can’t eat, sleep, work, etc. I’m so frightened. I have a wonderful girlfriend of 3 months who I know this is affecting, and I hate it. My health anxiety was doing very well until all of this and some other stuff over the last month. I’m really concerned about having a melanoma that progressed to stage 4 or something. My doctor says not to worry about that, but I do. Google has ruined me.