melanoma

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Princess_Abby

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I have a small, slightly irregular tan bump (?) on my face, sort of at the top of my left cheekbone, but close to my ear. It’s fairly small, about the size of a pencil eraser but slightly irregular in round shape. It is raised slightly, but not evenly. I’ve had it for going on two years and to be honest I’ve paid it almost no attention whatsoever until someone pointed out it could be melanoma.

My husband and I are gaining new health insurance and it will not kick in for a bit. I can’t go to the doctor for at least another six weeks, basically. Although, given that I’ve had this for two years I’m not sure what another six weeks will do anyway.

Does anyone have any advice? This particular person who told me about the possibility of melanoma regaled me with a story of a 26 year old woman in Dallas dying from mestastic melanoma to the brain. Not a happy thought. I’m mainly worried I’ve let it go far too long.

However, recently I had an MRI that looked at my spine–not my brain, but my spinal cord is attached!–so wouldn’t something have shown up there? I’ve also had blood work for other health issues, so wouldn’t my WBC count have been skyhigh if something was really wrong? But do they even check that if they’re just doing hormonal checks and insulin/blood sugar?

It is late and I am tired and this person really shook me up. Any thoughts? 🙂 TIA.
 
It sounds like just a little spot of hyper-pigmentation - a mole. These often come out in young adulthood/ early 20’s or later on, in perimenopausal women. I’ve had a spot like that right above where yours is since I was about 20.

Melanomas usually aren’t just “tan,” they’re very dark - very dark red or brown or even dull blue. They’re also usually very irregular in shape. They often break open and bleed or get infected.

If you’re really worried, you should have a doctor take a look at it, even if you have to go to a county clinic or something. At least that would put your mind at ease.

I hope you can worry a little less now, anyway. It’s hard to have fear hit in the middle of the night.

Elizabeth
 
My husband had melanoma on the top of his head. He had it for some time before it was biopsied. He had a dr. look at it initially but she determined it wasn’t anything significant. It took his hairdresser to tell him to get it checked again, this time he went to a dermatologist and she took him seriously. As ElizabethJoy said, it was dark, irregular, and was irritated and bled. Think of the ABC’s (asymmetry, border (uneven), color (dark).

That being said, it’s still pretty rare to have melanoma. It is prob. (if anything) some other sort of skin lesion, probably benign. Older people get these things all the time and while cancerous, they are contained and are easily removed. Don’t worry too much but do see a dr. as soon as the insurance kicks in - things should be fine. 👍
 
Melanomas usually have an irregular border and different colors including dark brown and almost black. They don’t necessarily look bad otherwise. They are often described as the size of a pencil eraser. Many do not bleed or look like a sore.

An MRI of the spine would not show anything in the brain. But let’s not jump to conclusions about the brain! An abnormal CBC or Chest x-ray could indicate a Melanoma that is spreading but a melanoma that is still confined to the site of the mole or just below the skin would probably not show anything because it is confined to the small site. You mention that you have had the mole about two years. Has it changed at all during that time? Did it get bigger?

There are a lot of dermatological lesions (and simple moles/nevus) that can arise on the body that are not cancerous. For peace of mind and for your health, go see a doctor, even a nurse practitioner at the health department. Health care providers can at least tell you if it looks suspicious to them even before you get an appointment with a dermatologist. If you really get worried this weekend, you can always go to an urgent care center/walk in clinic (Doc in a box) and ask someone to look at it. But of course, you’ll be paying out of pocket.
I can tell you that it is easier/faster to get in to see a good dermatologist if another doctor (family doctor or clinic) calls to make the referral based on their assessment of the mole.

A good dermatologist is experienced with all of this. If he thinks it is suspicious, he will remove it (biopsy it) and sent it to the lab to determine if it is cancerous or just a mole. The procedure is done in the doctor’s office.

I don’t want you to worry but I also don’t want you to ignore it either.
Take care. I will be praying for you. :gopray:
 
Thank you to all of you for trying to allay my fears and giving me some good information. 🙂

It has changed over the last two years; it’s gotten bigger. It started as a speck and is now the eraser-size I mentioned. It’s always been hard for me to see it clearly since it’s on the side of my cheekbone, but last night I put a mirror up to it. It’s definitely more round than irregular, but definitely irregular. It has NEVER bled, itched or been uncomfortable whatsoever. It’s slightly raised but not evenly…

We are moving next week so now is the worst time for me to be overly sensitive about something I can’t go fix. 🙂 However, I may need to make some time right before we leave to at least go have the health department look at it, as someone suggested. At least I will know whether it looks “suspicious” or not! 🙂 (This is why our insurance isn’t kicking in right away.)

Thank you for the assurances that “sometimes” random benign growths occur. I am only 25, so maybe what Elizabeth Joy mentioned as a possibility is really what is happening.

I am very fair and have always burned extremely easily, and as a child I had several bad ones. My father had skin cancer on his shoulder when he was 26. My husband had pre-cancerous cells removed from his back, but he has dark hair and dark eyes (although he has a rosy-fair complexion).

Anyway. I guess bottom line is I should get it checked out by not worry too much until then. My “friend” who told me about it was like, “yeah and that girl in Dallas only had a little speck on her face too, but it was already inside her brain and now she’s only holding onto life to give birth to her child!” It just sounded so sad and terrible and SCARY!
 
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Princess_Abby:
Thank you to all of you for trying to allay my fears and giving me some good information. 🙂

It has changed over the last two years; it’s gotten bigger. It started as a speck and is now the eraser-size I mentioned. !
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go now, don’t wait, go to an urgent care clinic and pay out of pocket if you have to, if it is growing it can’t wait. for one thing you will drive yourself nuts until you get it checked and hopefully ease your mind (90% chance) or get it removed and biopsied if necessary (10% chance),
 
annie,

i can’t just because i don’t want to mess up our new insurance with a pre-existing thing…we have yet to apply for it through my husband’s new job, and i don’t want to end up having to front all the costs for the incision, biopsy and labwork…

six weeks isn’t long to wait when i’ve had it for so long. our insurance runs out at the end of next week though with hubby’s current job so maybe i will see if i can get in…

it’s not CURRENTLY growing, it has just grown very slowly over the last two years is all
 
I would follow puzzleannie’s advice. Melanoma is highly curable if caught early. Don’t mess with it. Your fair skin puts you at higher risk. It used to be much more common in the elderly. But my 14 year old son had one removed from his back. He went in for a physical for sports. His doctor happened to notice it. “That doesn’t look good.” She removed it on the spot. The biopsy came back positive. At the time she asked him how it feels to be the youngest melanoma patient. I forget the details, but his was caught in the earliest stage. They classify them by thickness. If they catch it less than so thick, you have a 95% chance of survival. If not, survival rates are much lower. Try an on-line search for more info. Thank God my son’s hasn’t come back. After the initial removal in the doctor’s office, he went back to a pediatric surgeon to have the area re-excised just to make sure they got everything. The whole thing was pretty simple really. Not so, in later stages. DON’T WAIT.
 
Please go to the DR now. I have had melanoma and have had three other skin cancers removed. I try to ignore the internal fear that it will keep popping up. In my case the DR poo-pooed my questions about the “spot.”

So now everytime a little brownish splotch shows up I get scared again.

So Run do not walk to your DR and get it taken care of.
 
From your description it doesn’t sound like melanoma, but then, I’m not a doctor, much less a Skin Specialist. It might be a basal cell skin cancer - it sounds a bit like the one I had removed from my arm 2 years ago.

Although basal cell skin cancer IS maligmant, it is the least malignant of the three types of skin cancer (basal cell, squamous cell and melanoma).

My husband had an ugly, dark, uneven edged growth on his back that grew quite a lot over the years. I hated it, feared it, and pushed him to go to a Skin Specialist. It turned out to be some sort of ugly wart, and was successfully removed!!

Too often we worry about harmless things and ignore those that are dangerous.

Go to the doctor. Have the thing diagnosed and removed, and rejoice in taking the correct action, instead of worrying about it. Worry doesn’t help, just makes you fearful.
 
Advice??
YES. Friend, go to a dermatologist ASAP. Pay cash if you have to. If you don’t, and it is per chance a melanoma, it could very rapidly spread to the lymph system and elsewhere. It probably is just a sun spot, but you’d better find out, cuz this type of cancer spreads fast.
 
If you are still under your old insurance, or if the new one will kick in under a certain amount of time, you will still be covered. (someone back me up here) it is not considered pre-existing if it was caught while you were under one major medical, and then switch (due to job change) to another major medical.

It does not sound like melanoma, but why take a chance? This is your life, the only one you get. Even if by some chance the new insurance wouldn’t cover it, you are worth whatever it would cost to fix you! The outpatient surgery for a small lesion, cancer or no, is much less than a house, car or even a small vacation. Please take care of this now. You will be doing everyone who loves you a favor.

Call your insurance co tomorrow and ask (don’t have to even explain the situation) about switching from one to another, and what qualifies as pre-existing, and about how long between coverages you have to still stay covered, and all that good stuff.

take care,

cheddar
 
IF you paid for the old insurance until the end of the month, as in July, it still should be good.

IF NOT, then look for a county clinic, free clinic or Urgent Care if you can afford it (what we call “Doc-In-The Box” or “McDoctor”). They run between $50 and $75 a visit. You might also contact Catholic Charities, and see if they can give you a referral some place.

You should go just for the simple peace of mind. It’s hard enough to move, but to worry you might have something that’s worse- go!:bigyikes:
 
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Princess_Abby:
Abby, I would get this checked out soon—insurance problems or not. Try to work out a payment plan, if not within the budget to pay out of pocket. I had to do that a few times in the past when we were between insurance plans. Take care of yourself and ease your worries.
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Princess_Abby:
i can’t just because i don’t want to mess up our new insurance with a pre-existing thing…we have yet to apply for it through my husband’s new job, and i don’t want to end up having to front all the costs for the incision, biopsy and labwork…
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this is another example of what’s wrong with health insurance these days. It’s sad that people have to seriously consider delaying being evaluated for something possibly life-threatening, because it would be a pre-existing condition that would make it hard to get insurance in the future. People switch jobs and insurance often enough that this type of scenario is not uncommon. Insurance is supposed to make health care affordable, not prevent people from seeking it. But the problem is that it’s all about money, not peoples’ health.

I do see this is a tough situation. Obviously it’s impossible for any of us to make a diagnosis over the internet, but if there is some possibility it’s a melanoma, the earlier you get it the better. In the grand scheme of things, I think it would be worth the money to pay for it out of pocket. Honestly my experience with dermatologists is that the things I think are suspicious are completely harmless, and the ones that I don’t think twice about are the ones that they want to remove and biopsy. But good dermatologists have seen thousands of moles and bumps, and are pretty good at distinguishing what you should really worry about, and what not. But I’ve got a family history of melanoma, so I try to get in for a screening every year.
 
Okay I finally went today and all is well. 🙂

Bob, what you said about insurance is so true…

Thanks to all of you who encouraged me to go, I feel much better!
 
thanks for reporting back, glad all is well, don’t you feel relieved, we did not forget to pray for you.
 
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