› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Worried about excision monday.. thoughts?
- This topic has 12 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 1 month ago by
Janner.
- Post
-
- August 10, 2012 at 5:44 pm
I have a strong family history of melanoma, and I am also covered in moles. Have had at least 10 biopsied. All have come back normal or mildly dysplastic. I had my yearly exam on Wednesday and for once they didn't want to remove a bunch, which was nice.. however — one did concern him. It is on my left thigh. I had it removed and biopsied about 3 years ago. it came back as mildly atypical.
I have a strong family history of melanoma, and I am also covered in moles. Have had at least 10 biopsied. All have come back normal or mildly dysplastic. I had my yearly exam on Wednesday and for once they didn't want to remove a bunch, which was nice.. however — one did concern him. It is on my left thigh. I had it removed and biopsied about 3 years ago. it came back as mildly atypical.
I never thought much of it, but I did notice the pigment was growing back in it (almost immediately after it started healing). My moles were all removed by shave biopsy (which I'll never let them do again!) and most of my other moles have SOME pigment growing back.
The derm said it was suspicious, because it is growing back very weird looking (asymmetrical, 2 different colored browns, bigger than pencil eraser, etc)
He said it could definitely just be the way it is growing back through the scar tissue, but wants to do an excision on Monday to be sure.
I have bad healthy anxiety and with my family history I'm losing it. What are the chances that mildy dysplastic has turned into Melanoma in 3 years? Also I've had my yearly exams every year since the biopsy and no one has mentioned removing it (Had a different doctor this time)
I know I want KNOW until a biopsy.. but can anyone relate?
- Replies
-
-
- August 10, 2012 at 6:14 pm
I don't know what I was trying to say that last sentence.. should be.. I know I have to wait until a biopsy to be sure, but wanting other peoples thoughts!
-
- August 10, 2012 at 6:14 pm
I don't know what I was trying to say that last sentence.. should be.. I know I have to wait until a biopsy to be sure, but wanting other peoples thoughts!
-
- August 10, 2012 at 6:14 pm
I don't know what I was trying to say that last sentence.. should be.. I know I have to wait until a biopsy to be sure, but wanting other peoples thoughts!
-
- August 10, 2012 at 6:28 pm
i've had a lot of mildly atypicals removed. . and even when they extend to lateral margins, Dr says no further excision is necessary on mildly atypical. . but now I read 3 years later you're dealing with this, so makes me wonder if i should insist on re-excisions on my mildly atypicals
-
- August 10, 2012 at 6:52 pm
Some docs do, some don't. Mildly and moderately atypical lesions don't have a universal standard of care for removal. If they never grow back, I wouldn't worry. If they do, I'd have them removed. And if it happens enough times, I might discuss the biopsy technique used to make sure I got the best margins so I wouldn't have to deal with regrowth.
-
- August 10, 2012 at 6:52 pm
Some docs do, some don't. Mildly and moderately atypical lesions don't have a universal standard of care for removal. If they never grow back, I wouldn't worry. If they do, I'd have them removed. And if it happens enough times, I might discuss the biopsy technique used to make sure I got the best margins so I wouldn't have to deal with regrowth.
-
- August 10, 2012 at 6:52 pm
Some docs do, some don't. Mildly and moderately atypical lesions don't have a universal standard of care for removal. If they never grow back, I wouldn't worry. If they do, I'd have them removed. And if it happens enough times, I might discuss the biopsy technique used to make sure I got the best margins so I wouldn't have to deal with regrowth.
-
- August 10, 2012 at 6:28 pm
i've had a lot of mildly atypicals removed. . and even when they extend to lateral margins, Dr says no further excision is necessary on mildly atypical. . but now I read 3 years later you're dealing with this, so makes me wonder if i should insist on re-excisions on my mildly atypicals
-
- August 10, 2012 at 6:28 pm
i've had a lot of mildly atypicals removed. . and even when they extend to lateral margins, Dr says no further excision is necessary on mildly atypical. . but now I read 3 years later you're dealing with this, so makes me wonder if i should insist on re-excisions on my mildly atypicals
-
- August 10, 2012 at 6:48 pm
This certainly doesn't have to be melanoma, but it's unlikely to be mildly atypical either. Anytime you read pathology through scar tissue, it complicates matters. Even benign lesions can look quite atypical through scar tissue. The thing to do is just have it removed. My doc does like to remove any biopsy area that has pigment regrowth – just in case. In general shave biopsies often don't go deep enough to remove the entire lesion and then you get regrowth. However, if a lesion is quite large, a punch biopsy might not get the entire width, either. (In other words, there is a time and place for each biopsy technique). I don't have shave biopsies because of the possibility of cutting through a lesion and compromising the depth — but mainly because they hurt more and heal worse than a simple punch biopsy for me. It's easy to let your mind run away with you here, but this doesn't have to be melanoma. I'd have been more worried if the original lesion had been severely atypical instead of mild.
Let us know how things turn out!
Janner
-
- August 10, 2012 at 6:48 pm
This certainly doesn't have to be melanoma, but it's unlikely to be mildly atypical either. Anytime you read pathology through scar tissue, it complicates matters. Even benign lesions can look quite atypical through scar tissue. The thing to do is just have it removed. My doc does like to remove any biopsy area that has pigment regrowth – just in case. In general shave biopsies often don't go deep enough to remove the entire lesion and then you get regrowth. However, if a lesion is quite large, a punch biopsy might not get the entire width, either. (In other words, there is a time and place for each biopsy technique). I don't have shave biopsies because of the possibility of cutting through a lesion and compromising the depth — but mainly because they hurt more and heal worse than a simple punch biopsy for me. It's easy to let your mind run away with you here, but this doesn't have to be melanoma. I'd have been more worried if the original lesion had been severely atypical instead of mild.
Let us know how things turn out!
Janner
-
- August 10, 2012 at 6:48 pm
This certainly doesn't have to be melanoma, but it's unlikely to be mildly atypical either. Anytime you read pathology through scar tissue, it complicates matters. Even benign lesions can look quite atypical through scar tissue. The thing to do is just have it removed. My doc does like to remove any biopsy area that has pigment regrowth – just in case. In general shave biopsies often don't go deep enough to remove the entire lesion and then you get regrowth. However, if a lesion is quite large, a punch biopsy might not get the entire width, either. (In other words, there is a time and place for each biopsy technique). I don't have shave biopsies because of the possibility of cutting through a lesion and compromising the depth — but mainly because they hurt more and heal worse than a simple punch biopsy for me. It's easy to let your mind run away with you here, but this doesn't have to be melanoma. I'd have been more worried if the original lesion had been severely atypical instead of mild.
Let us know how things turn out!
Janner
-
Tagged: cutaneous melanoma
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.