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.
