my wife received the news today!
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Hello all, Today my wife called me and gave me the bad news from her dermatologist appointment. All that they told her was that she has skin cancer and rescheduled her to come back in 2 weeks for further tests. It was all based on a visual inspection and nothing further.
I am currently working out of town so I wasn’t able to go with her but I was furious that she didn’t demand they do the tests today. Am i right?
The mole is 3 years old. She is so upset that she didn’t get it looked at sooner. Is it true that during these 3 years the cancer has now likely spread into her body?
I am scheduled to work until Sunday but I told her I want to come home now and she says shes ok and wants me to stay here. I really think I should go home now and we should show up at the doctors office tomorrow and ask for the testing to be done.
I don’t know what to do.
Thanks…and God Bless all of you.
Chuck
Chuck, sorry to hear about your wifes appt. They should have done the biopsy today, 2 weeks is crazy. I’d either go back to that Dermatologist in the morning or find another one that will do the biopsy right away. Thank you for your reply 7spider. After speaking on the phone with my wife again, she told me that the doc said the visual inspection was a diagnosis for melanoma and she really didn’t need a biopsy. They said they could see it was melanoma. Is this acceptable?
The appointment in 2 weeks is for a plastic surgeon to see about removing it…. but who will do the testing? like who will tell her the stage and treatment options? will the plastic surgeon or the dermalogist?
Chuck
Chuck, Totally unacceptable !!! A biopsy of the mole is the only way they can confirm melanoma and the size and depth of it. A plastic surgeon is not a cancer specialist and wouldn’t even know how wide or deep to go without a pathology report from the biopsy. I really think she needs to get to another Dermatologist ASAP. Hopefully Catherine will respond to your questions, doesn’t sound right to me. Good luck to you and your wife. John After speaking with a friend in the medical field… I was referred to a dermatologist who will take care of this properly. I am driving home tonight and we will be visiting the derm office in the morning. The derm she saw was a derm who made a weekly visit to my wifes doctors office. I googled her name and couldnt find anything at all about her.
Please also know that there is absolutely no way of diagnosing a melanoma without a biopsy looked at by a pathologist. There have been stories on this forum about moles looking sinister being benign. And also moles that didn’t seem to fit the characteristics that turned out to be melanoma. The key is whether or not the mole has changed. Add to it that this doctor doesn’t even follow basic protocol of doing a biopsy. You are right to get it biopsied right away. But as hard as it is not to worry, you really don’t know what, if anything, you are dealing with. Best of luck to you. And that incompetent doctor should be severely reprimanded. Watching for change is hard, especially on the back. I can watch for change on arms, legs, etc. . but it’s really hard on my back cause i can’t see back there really. I wonder if mine would have been caught earlier were it somewhere i could see better and keep an eye on Until you get the pathology back, you will have no idea what this is. Good luck and hope its benign! Yes, please have the biopsy done right away and make sure they do an excisional biopsy (not a shave or punch) it will require a stitch possibly. I didnt’ read where the mole was located but a plastic surgeon is needed when the mole or lesion is located on a difficult area to close or one that is cosmetically sensitive (facial area etc.) So that wasn’t out of line, but waiting is out of line and saying they could “see” it was melanoma without the pathology being done is unprofessional. Please write us back and let us know what the pathology report says so we can help you further if needbe. Take a lot of deep breaths and take one day at a time. Thank you all for your help and suggestions. We are seeing a dermatologist Monday morning. Here is the website of the dermatology practice
http://www.westmorelanddermatology.com Has anyone had any experience with them?
and as Catherine Poole suggested…..We will be asking for an excisional biopsy .
So the pathology report are the biopsy results? What is the time frame we should expect too receive this report?
Chuck
Glad you’re getting things rolling the right way. The patology report and biopsy results shoudn’t take more than a few days. They did mine on a Thusday and got the results on Monday. The waiting is the hardest part. Good luck w/ everything and keep us posted. Thanks 7spider we were told they by a forum member they might not do an excisional biopsy without advanced notice….so My wife decided we will just keep the 10am appointment on monday and go in and request an excisional biopsy and if they can’t do it we will just reschedule.
also here is a pic of the enlarged mole.
Chuck and michelle
Still can’t get over the other DR saying it was definetly melanoma without doing a biopsy. I think yall are on the right track now, and know the questions to ask and what to expect. If you have any more questions or concerns,fire away. There’s so many good people on here that’ ll help you, especially Catherine. She has spent a lot of time on this stuff and her personal individual responces to questions is above and beyond in my opinion. Are you sure that is a mole? Did it show up one day or grow gradually over time? There are two other types of skin cancer called basal cell and squamous cell that are higjly curable. That’s why I ask. They rend to be rough and scaly growths that can grow over time. Again no way to know without a biopsy.
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