Possible melanoma – really scared!

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  • Post
    • September 8, 2015 at 5:53 pm
    user626254
    Participant

      Hi everyone,

      I came back from holiday about a month ago and notice a light brown patch on my foot – it didn't look bad or anything, but after I started Googling stuff melanoma came up as a possibility. I went to my doctor and he thought it was nothing, he said come back in two weeks if it hasnt gone. 

      Sure enough, it hadn't disappeared. I went back to him, he looked through a hand microscrope with a large light and said he wasn't sure what it was and has referred me to a dermotoligst, who I'll be seeing soon.

      However, I'm just really, really worried! I started googling things (which I know was stupid but I get nervous) and I'm just scared…

      The spot went from a light brown to a darker brown, and now it looks like its fading a little bit. Could this be something else? 

      Thanks

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    • Replies
        • September 8, 2015 at 7:17 pm
        CHD
        Participant

          Absolutely it could be something else.  Skin lesions can be hard to diagnose by sight alone, except for some of the more typical benign ones, and then only if you are a dermatologist, and even they will tend to rely on a biopsy if something looks at all suspicious.  The rest of us don't stand a chance.  Even something that looks like a blatantly obvious superficial spreading melanoma (think ABCDs of melanoma identification) sometimes turn out to be something else.  So it is always best to get these things checked out and you are definitely doing the right thing seeing the dermatologist.  But in the meantime, try not to worry too much.

          • September 8, 2015 at 7:17 pm
          CHD
          Participant

            Absolutely it could be something else.  Skin lesions can be hard to diagnose by sight alone, except for some of the more typical benign ones, and then only if you are a dermatologist, and even they will tend to rely on a biopsy if something looks at all suspicious.  The rest of us don't stand a chance.  Even something that looks like a blatantly obvious superficial spreading melanoma (think ABCDs of melanoma identification) sometimes turn out to be something else.  So it is always best to get these things checked out and you are definitely doing the right thing seeing the dermatologist.  But in the meantime, try not to worry too much.

            • September 8, 2015 at 7:17 pm
            CHD
            Participant

              Absolutely it could be something else.  Skin lesions can be hard to diagnose by sight alone, except for some of the more typical benign ones, and then only if you are a dermatologist, and even they will tend to rely on a biopsy if something looks at all suspicious.  The rest of us don't stand a chance.  Even something that looks like a blatantly obvious superficial spreading melanoma (think ABCDs of melanoma identification) sometimes turn out to be something else.  So it is always best to get these things checked out and you are definitely doing the right thing seeing the dermatologist.  But in the meantime, try not to worry too much.

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