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Is this melanoma?
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Is this melanoma?

› Forums › Cutaneous Melanoma Community › Is this melanoma?

  • Post
    • September 10, 2017 at 8:44 pm
    ahk960
    Participant

      Hello everyone,

       

      I have been freaking out over the past six weeks that I have melanoma. I am only 23.

      I have recently shaved my head and I have noticed I have brown spots on my head. My mother died from colon cancer. Watching her go through it was terrifying and I don't have the strength to go through it. 

      I went in June 2016 to get a mole on my head checked out. The dermatologist checked my entire head and removed the only raised mole. The only reason she removed it is because I was a nervous wreck. She took it off… Benign. 

      I couldn't get into my dermatologist when I started freaking out so I went to my GP. He said the only reason he reffered me to another dermatologist is because I was in distress?

      Can someone please take a look at the photos in the link and let me know if I should be concerned? I feel like this is all I have been talking about to those in my surroundings… 

       

      [IMG]http://i66.tinypic.com/34i1bp5.jpg[/IMG]

      [IMG]http://i67.tinypic.com/5xsgmb.jpg[/IMG]

       

      Thank you.

    Viewing 1 reply thread
    • Replies
        • September 10, 2017 at 8:53 pm
        jennunicorn
        Participant

          The images don't look concerning, but I am not a doctor so take my opinion for what it is. Sounds like you are dealing with a high level of anxiety which is making these spots blown out of proportion. I would suggest seeking out a counselor, a professional that can help you work through your anxiety, it's not good for anyone's overall health to be this overwhelmed with something that is not happening. Wishing you the best.

            • September 10, 2017 at 9:05 pm
            ahk960
            Participant

              Wow, 

              thank you for your response! I do talk to a professional and i'm on medication…. It doesn't seem to be working. If you had these spots on you, would you be extremely wooried? Best, 

              • September 10, 2017 at 9:21 pm
              jennunicorn
              Participant

                No I personally would not be worried about them. When a new spot shows up I take a good picture of it and wait a month and take another picture and then compare. If it doesn't change, then there is nothing to worry about, if it starts to change, then I go see my dermatologist.

                • September 10, 2017 at 9:30 pm
                ahk960
                Participant

                  I take pictures all the time and never any change. I looked at my pictures from 2016 and no change, but if it is something- will it be deadly? Im scared of pain. 

                  • September 10, 2017 at 9:35 pm
                  jennunicorn
                  Participant

                    If it never changed then it would NOT be melanoma 

                    • September 10, 2017 at 9:37 pm
                    jennunicorn
                    Participant

                      Like Jenn said, if it hasn't changed ever then you don't need to worry about melanoma. Now, you need to get off these types of sites, don't go internet searching for melanoma or any cancer. Go take care of yourself. 

                      • September 10, 2017 at 9:41 pm
                      ahk960
                      Participant

                        but even if i hadn't noticed them before would you think itsmelanoma?

                        • September 10, 2017 at 10:26 pm
                        ahk960
                        Participant

                          Meaning, what if today was the first day I saw them? Just by looking at them, would you think its melanoma?

                          • September 11, 2017 at 1:05 am
                          jennunicorn
                          Participant

                            No I would not think it was melanoma and do not think it is melanoma. 

                            • September 11, 2017 at 1:06 am
                            ahk960
                            Participant

                              okay thank you. i will wait until my appointment at the dermatologist on October 16

                              • September 11, 2017 at 2:01 am
                              Janner
                              Participant

                                I have had 3 melanomas over 26 years.  I only biopsy things that have changed or are new and "ugly duckling".  If you have pictures showing these things are stable, I personally wouldn't be biopsying them.  If they are stable, they stay on my body.  That's worked for me for a very long time and I'm high risk for more melanomas.

                                • September 11, 2017 at 11:45 pm
                                ahk960
                                Participant

                                  Hello, thank you for getting in touch!

                                   

                                  Based on the images I procided, do you believe they are melanoma? I am scared… So scared. 

                                   

                                  Best, 

                                  • September 11, 2017 at 11:48 pm
                                  ahk960
                                  Participant

                                    Please see another image from today:

                                     

                                    [IMG]http://i65.tinypic.com/51dic0.jpg[/IMG]

                                  • September 12, 2017 at 1:44 am
                                  cancersnewnormal
                                  Participant

                                    You're going to be ok. I'm not a doc, but these spots look like perfectly normal "freckles" that were likely there for a long long long time without you noticing them under the hair. It's good that you have been checked by your GP, as well as a derm, to put your mind at ease. Even in the worst of cases, you would be very early in diagnosis… and suuuuper treatable with very little to be concerned about. 

                                    My mother also passed away from colon cancer. You're right… it's horribly painful to watch a parent go through their final days. My father died of lung cancer 4 years after my mom. Again… mentally very difficult to watch their physical pain and suffering. I was diagnosed stage IV metastatic melanoma (brain and lungs) just over 3 years after my father passed. That was over 4 years ago… I'm still here. I am NED and living like any other normal person you'd see on the street. Likely better than most actually. ;-p  You are not your parents. Your cancer would not be exactly the same as your mom's… even if you were to develop colon cancer. Your body wouldn't react the same as your mom's did. You are YOU. An individual. Cancer's are NOT ALL THE SAME.. even the same cancer categories (breast, lung, colon, pancreatic… etc) are not the same. Each category has differentiated mutations within them. Treatments are different for each, and research has grown in leaps and bounds over just the past few years. Melanoma has lead the way in immunotherapy… and teaching our own bodies how to fight it's various mutations. Melanoma is not a death sentence. No cancer truely is.  And at this point… odds are… you don't have to be concerned that those spots on your head are anything but benign freckles that you've had hidden under your hair since you were a toddler.

                                      • September 12, 2017 at 8:48 pm
                                      ahk960
                                      Participant

                                        Hello Niki,

                                        Thank you for sending this along!

                                         

                                        I went to my GP a few weeks ago.

                                         

                                        My dermatologist appointment is on October 16th (earliest date they had).

                                         

                                        Best, 

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