› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Similar Experiences?
- This topic has 12 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 8 months ago by
exfakebaker.
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- April 26, 2016 at 3:43 pm
Hi! I am a pre-melanoma person at this point. I am a redhead/pale skinned person who grew up in the era of everyone using tanning beds (I'm 31). Used them every spring from March-May or so, then spent the summer with sunscreen on my face/shoulders and not really anywhere else (on weekends). Usually had a tan until about August, then let it fade out. This went on from about age 16-30, with a couple springs/summers that I sat out on because of pregnancy or one year when I didn't think tanning was good for me at age 25. Also remember having sunburns as a child. However, to my knowledge, there isn't melanoma in my family (other skin cancers though).
I used to see a dermatologist once a year (for 2-3 years) when I was 24-27. Nothing ever found, but did get the tanning lecture. I moved to another state and didn't have a dermatologist anymore for 3 years, during which time I also wasn't tanning much (pregnancy).
Last spring, it occurred to me that I hadn't had myself looked over in awhile. Also, I had been tanning for about a month when it all just started to seem like a bad idea to me and I had a gut feeling I should do something about it all. Scheduled an appointment at the Dermatology and Skin Cancer Center of Kansas City with a nurse practitioner and got in to see her.
At that visit, she looked me over completely and found one mole that she "didn't like" and burnt a spot of "precancer" off my face (a place where I said I get a recurring/scaly zit frequently). That spot seems to be fine. The spot on my middle back, the mole she didn't like, turned out to be severly abnormal (not melanoma but they described it as "imminent") and required an excision. That was quite a scare and totally changed my attitudes on tanning. I monitor sun exposure now and don't tan, but I fear the damage has already been done.
When I went in for my excision, I was then seeing a "real doctor", so I asked her to look me over as well. She described herself as "OCD about moles". She found four more moles she didn't like, and I pointed out a pinkish spot on my upper back that concerned me. All 5 were biopsied. The moles were all atypical but normal, and the pink spot was moderately abnormal, requiring a second excision. She noted that I have "weird moles all over", but only biopsied four of them. I really do have lots of moles all over (not like google pictures of 'atypical mole syndrome', but a lot on my back, stomach, and legs. It would be nearly impossible to biopsy them all.
That was all last October. I haven't been back to the dermatologist since then, although I do have an appointment coming up with the nurse practictioner again in a week and a half. I think the upcoming appointment has stirred up my hypochrondria/health anxiety. I have been checking my skin over, and have found several atypical moles (on my legs) that concern me. Unfortunately, I wasn't doing self skin checks rigorously since the second excision because I made the mistake of letting myself feel like the worst was behind me for a few months and let it all go for peace of mind. Anyway, I have found several moles and at least one pink spot on my back. I am unsure if they've changed much if at all, but I would assume they've all been there for the past few months.
Does anyone else have these spots/atypical moles all over themselves? What do you do to stay on top of it all? Am I going to end up looking like a scarred/pincushion because of all the mole removals and excisions (better than cancer, I understand that much)? Have I already done too much damage and this is my penance? Just looking for other points of view and stories while I wait for the appointment. I've been lurking in the forums and everyone seems supportive and very helpful and I wanted to join and get some perspective from people who've had similar experiences as nobody I know in real life does!
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- April 26, 2016 at 3:55 pm
Find someone to take PHOTOS of your moles. Otherwise, you may be a pincushion. If all you rely upon is 'this one looks ugly', you will be doing endless biopsies. You need to biopsy the lesions that change and the way to do that is have baseline photos taken. Then you can biopsy lesions that are changing which are the ones you are concerned about. There are medical photographers out there, but if you have a good camera with a macro setting, your significant other could do this. You need to be relatively systematic about it. Take a general photo of say – left front lower leg. Then take closeup pics of the moles in that area. Put a rule next to the mole as you photograph it to monitor for size. Take pictures in lighting you can duplicate. Changes in lighting can make it appear that moles have changed when they actually haven't. So make sure the pics you take look like what's on your body and check in the same lighting next time. Monthly checks – just like breast checks are the way to go. Then you can go to your derm/np saying that all your moles are stable or that this one and that one are changing and these are the ones we need to biopsy. If you don't use pictures, you take the chance that you will miss something that is changing. Pictures give you a sense of control, and independent and unbiased view.
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- April 26, 2016 at 3:55 pm
Find someone to take PHOTOS of your moles. Otherwise, you may be a pincushion. If all you rely upon is 'this one looks ugly', you will be doing endless biopsies. You need to biopsy the lesions that change and the way to do that is have baseline photos taken. Then you can biopsy lesions that are changing which are the ones you are concerned about. There are medical photographers out there, but if you have a good camera with a macro setting, your significant other could do this. You need to be relatively systematic about it. Take a general photo of say – left front lower leg. Then take closeup pics of the moles in that area. Put a rule next to the mole as you photograph it to monitor for size. Take pictures in lighting you can duplicate. Changes in lighting can make it appear that moles have changed when they actually haven't. So make sure the pics you take look like what's on your body and check in the same lighting next time. Monthly checks – just like breast checks are the way to go. Then you can go to your derm/np saying that all your moles are stable or that this one and that one are changing and these are the ones we need to biopsy. If you don't use pictures, you take the chance that you will miss something that is changing. Pictures give you a sense of control, and independent and unbiased view.
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- April 26, 2016 at 4:23 pm
I was thinking this… Would it be advisable to go to the derm. appointment May 6th and let them biopsy anything concerning at that point? After that, I would begin the picture process. It seems futile to start it before the appointment, but maybe not? Obviously should have started taking pictures 8 months ago!
But yes, that sounds logical. Especially since I am someone with lots of atypical moles, they could go crazy and rack up huge medical bills just biopsying things that are in fact stable!
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- April 26, 2016 at 4:23 pm
I was thinking this… Would it be advisable to go to the derm. appointment May 6th and let them biopsy anything concerning at that point? After that, I would begin the picture process. It seems futile to start it before the appointment, but maybe not? Obviously should have started taking pictures 8 months ago!
But yes, that sounds logical. Especially since I am someone with lots of atypical moles, they could go crazy and rack up huge medical bills just biopsying things that are in fact stable!
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- April 26, 2016 at 4:48 pm
Up to you. It's not concerning if it isn't changing and there is no way for the NP to know/remember what it looked like last visit. I think the photos are more important than any derm visit. I have found my 3 primaries and I plan to find any in the future. My doc happens to believe in pictures, too, and has photos of all my moles. My last visit, he saw something he wouldn't worry about in others, but my lesions tend to be not typical. The existing photo just wasn't detailed enough so he took more photos and I took photos and I'm going back in 3 months instead of 6 to evaluate. I'm sure this lesion is stable and the location is bad for a biopsy so we will most likely continue to monitor.
You haven't had melanoma and you may never get it, but being on top of your moles and watching for change will definitely make you feel more in control, and also on top of things in case your skin betrays you. Going to the NP now is totally up to you, but if you go, I wouldn't take off a lot of things unless you know it has changed. In the end, the only one who has to be happy with how you are managing your care is YOU. Do what makes YOU comfortable!
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- April 26, 2016 at 4:48 pm
Up to you. It's not concerning if it isn't changing and there is no way for the NP to know/remember what it looked like last visit. I think the photos are more important than any derm visit. I have found my 3 primaries and I plan to find any in the future. My doc happens to believe in pictures, too, and has photos of all my moles. My last visit, he saw something he wouldn't worry about in others, but my lesions tend to be not typical. The existing photo just wasn't detailed enough so he took more photos and I took photos and I'm going back in 3 months instead of 6 to evaluate. I'm sure this lesion is stable and the location is bad for a biopsy so we will most likely continue to monitor.
You haven't had melanoma and you may never get it, but being on top of your moles and watching for change will definitely make you feel more in control, and also on top of things in case your skin betrays you. Going to the NP now is totally up to you, but if you go, I wouldn't take off a lot of things unless you know it has changed. In the end, the only one who has to be happy with how you are managing your care is YOU. Do what makes YOU comfortable!
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- April 26, 2016 at 5:23 pm
Thank you for all of your helpful advice!
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- April 26, 2016 at 5:23 pm
Thank you for all of your helpful advice!
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- April 26, 2016 at 5:23 pm
Thank you for all of your helpful advice!
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- April 26, 2016 at 4:48 pm
Up to you. It's not concerning if it isn't changing and there is no way for the NP to know/remember what it looked like last visit. I think the photos are more important than any derm visit. I have found my 3 primaries and I plan to find any in the future. My doc happens to believe in pictures, too, and has photos of all my moles. My last visit, he saw something he wouldn't worry about in others, but my lesions tend to be not typical. The existing photo just wasn't detailed enough so he took more photos and I took photos and I'm going back in 3 months instead of 6 to evaluate. I'm sure this lesion is stable and the location is bad for a biopsy so we will most likely continue to monitor.
You haven't had melanoma and you may never get it, but being on top of your moles and watching for change will definitely make you feel more in control, and also on top of things in case your skin betrays you. Going to the NP now is totally up to you, but if you go, I wouldn't take off a lot of things unless you know it has changed. In the end, the only one who has to be happy with how you are managing your care is YOU. Do what makes YOU comfortable!
-
- April 26, 2016 at 4:23 pm
I was thinking this… Would it be advisable to go to the derm. appointment May 6th and let them biopsy anything concerning at that point? After that, I would begin the picture process. It seems futile to start it before the appointment, but maybe not? Obviously should have started taking pictures 8 months ago!
But yes, that sounds logical. Especially since I am someone with lots of atypical moles, they could go crazy and rack up huge medical bills just biopsying things that are in fact stable!
-
- April 26, 2016 at 3:55 pm
Find someone to take PHOTOS of your moles. Otherwise, you may be a pincushion. If all you rely upon is 'this one looks ugly', you will be doing endless biopsies. You need to biopsy the lesions that change and the way to do that is have baseline photos taken. Then you can biopsy lesions that are changing which are the ones you are concerned about. There are medical photographers out there, but if you have a good camera with a macro setting, your significant other could do this. You need to be relatively systematic about it. Take a general photo of say – left front lower leg. Then take closeup pics of the moles in that area. Put a rule next to the mole as you photograph it to monitor for size. Take pictures in lighting you can duplicate. Changes in lighting can make it appear that moles have changed when they actually haven't. So make sure the pics you take look like what's on your body and check in the same lighting next time. Monthly checks – just like breast checks are the way to go. Then you can go to your derm/np saying that all your moles are stable or that this one and that one are changing and these are the ones we need to biopsy. If you don't use pictures, you take the chance that you will miss something that is changing. Pictures give you a sense of control, and independent and unbiased view.
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Tagged: cutaneous melanoma
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