› Forums › Cutaneous Melanoma Community › A few questions
- This topic has 3 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 3 months ago by
nicholewolf14.
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- March 2, 2018 at 5:31 am
Hi everyone, I am new to this site and just have a few questions to ask since my doctor does not seem to have "time" to answer them. I just turned 26 and was kicked off my mothers health insurance and since I was covered until February 28th I was to allowed to enroll in a manged care plan until March 1st which leaves me without coverage until April 1st.
Anyway, I went for my annual skin check a month early because I knew I wouldn't have insurnace besides Medicaid in March and they found a mole on my left buttcheck (ugh) that they thought looked a little funny. The said not to worry and they'll have the results within the next two weeks. I get a call about a week later and he surgery manager from the Derms office basicaly says "the mole we removed came back as precancerous. It is mild to moderately dysplatic nevus, you'll need to come back to get clear margins". Then he hung up. I called back immediately telling them about myinsurance issue and they basically forced me out telling me a name of a plastic surgeon who accepts Medicaid.
I guess I am just wondering what to expect and I know it is not actually cancer, but I also know I now have a higher risk of developing Melenoma. I did tan in beds for a brief period of my life and stopped because my fear of getting cancer, I am fair skinned with a few freckles, dark haired with blue eyes and female.
I am having a hard time coming to terms with this and wish I could have my derm doing the surgery instead of a plastic surgeon. I am terrified I have Melanoma somewhere else and they just missed it.
Any advice/information would be helpful. It is nice reading such uplifting stories on here.
Good health to everyone,
Brodie104
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- March 2, 2018 at 1:23 pm
I’ve had several moderately atypical lesions removed and gone back to derm for wider excision in her office. That involves numbing and stitches. Not a big deal at all AND I’ve never been told it is a time-sensitive matter. I am sure I’ve waited a month once or twice due to other medical stuff going on before going back for the wider excision.You should be ok to wait until your new insurance kicks in. But check with your physician to be sure. If it were severely atypical might be more urgent. See what others here say! -
- March 2, 2018 at 2:21 pm
I"m unsure why your derm can't do the surgery. I'd actually consider finding a derm can do simple WLE (wide local excision) surgery. I've had all of my melanomas as well as 10+ atypical WLEs done by my derms. Especially with the location of yours – it's a cheek but it's not the two on your face! Mildly to moderately atypical – not any real type of worry. And I doubt it really increases your risk significantly toward melanoma in the future. However, you are aware and you do have other risk factors. Remember, risk factors are not a cummulative risk – just relative risk to the general population!. The word "precancerous" drives me nuts in this situation. Precancerous implies that if left alone, it will eventually turn into cancer. That's just not true with a lesion like yours. The chances of it turning into melanoma were very minimal. Severely atypical lesions have the highest likelihood and even most of them won't make that leap.
Waiting until April 1st do have it removed is no issue at all. It's actually been studied with melanoma lesions and waiting to have the wide excision does not affect survival. If it isn't an issue with melanoma, it certainly isn't an issue with an atypical lesion like yours. Honestly, I might be looking for another derm in the future who is more willing to work with you.
Highly unlkely you have melanoma elsewhere. Two things to watch for – existing moles for change and new lesions that pop up. 75% of melanomas arise on new moles. Take some photographs of existing moles for reference. Then take some overall photos — like lower left front leg and lower left back leg. This way you have a record of where your spots are. Then you can periodically do a skin check. Having the overall pics lets you notice if something new pops up.
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- March 5, 2018 at 5:28 am
I've now had 3 cancer surgeries – 2 were melanoma, and 1 was pre-cancerous. The pre-cancerous surgery was less urgent (ie, when they found it, they said I could come in and get a wider section removed at my leisure), but it still needed to be removed. A quality dermatologist will not allow you to not have a pre-cancerous mole removed, as you really should try to avoid the risk as much as possible of it developing into cancer at a later stage. It's just not worth it.
The procedure is pretty much the same whether it's a pre-cancerous lesion or a melanoma in an early stage – however, with a pre-cancerous mole, the margin that's taken out is a bit smaller, so you'll be left with a smaller scar.
I've had 3 of these now – they're not fun, but it's not horrible. The procedure normally takes about 45 minutes or so – the longest piece of it is the stitches. Just keep the wound covered and use Vaseline on it daily, then massage the scar once it heals to break up tissue. You need to take it easy for about 2 weeks, and then can introduce light exercise back in after that. A plastic surgeon will focus on making your scar as "pretty" as possible, whereas just a normal derm might not focus on that as much. I use a cosmetic dermatologist – they're trained in cancer surgeries, but try to make your scars look as nice as they can (the best of both worlds).
As a 25 year old – in my opinion, it's best to get any cancer removed, no matter what stage, as quickly as you can. It gives more peace of mind and can help save your life later on down the road. It's hard not to worry, but just make sure you go in for screenings every 3 months, and let your derm know ASAP if anything looks odd that you want checked out. It's only scary if you let it be too long and then it develops into something bad.
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Tagged: cutaneous melanoma
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