Hello Everyone...
The other week, I went to my dermatologist for a basic checkup and actually wanted him to remove a couple moles on my stomach area that just looked unattractive to me. He didn't want to remove them for cosmetic purposes because my insurance wouldn't cover the cost.
However, he wanted to remove another mole on my stomach that he noticed because it was a little on the dark side (important for me to point out that it was not causing me any problem and was unraised, no bleeding out of it).
Anyway, he removed the mole and sent it off to the lab for a biopsy.
About a week later, the doctor called me to inform me that the mole turned out to be abnormal. His exact words were, "the mole that I took out turned out be be abnormal but there is no cancer. It is not cancerous. However the mole has cell features that we don't like to see and could cause you some problems later."
The dermatologist told me the name of the mole and I don't remember it exactly but it's called something like. "nevious junction displacement with spindel features."
He asked that I come back to his office in the next few weeks so he could go in deeper and make sure that he got all of the mole out. He said that I would have some stitches this time. He did mention that in the past, people would wait several months before having him go in deeper to make sure he gets it all out but he wants to take care of it now.
I was completely shocked on the phone when he told me this news. So, I have an appointment on the 29th for him to perform the procedure.
Since this phone call, I have spoken to a good friend of mine that's an eye doctor as well as a patient of the same dermatologist and he said that everything sounds fine and the main thing is the dermatologist stated that my mole was non cancerous. Also, my eye doctor friend said that my dermatologist is rather aggressive and probably wants to make sure it's completely removed from my body and not mess around.
Unfortunately, my anxiety has been bothering me a lot the past few days. I have lost my appetite and been doing a lot of "what if thinking."
I'm not so much focused on the good news.. which is the doctor telling me that the mole is cancer free but instead I am focused on... ok, ok now he is going to go in deeper and cut more out and what are they going to find with this next tissue sample?
I don't know much about cancer but I would think that if I did have cancer the mole biopsy would show it (not from taking a deeper cut/sample)?
I am really upset about this and been having a hard time concentrating this week. I wanted to have this procedure done asap but had to go out of town for business.
Any help or comfort would be greatly appreciated here.
Thank you!!
Very concerned about upcoming procedure at the dermatologist's office.
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Guest
Hey John,
I had a raised place on my nose a couple of years ago and went to a Mohs surgeon. She sent off a sample and it came back as actinic keratosis, which is pre-cancerous. The pathologist wanted her to then do a punch biopsy. I asked her why, since it wasn't cancer and she said the pathoogist was just very thorough and wanted to be sure. She did the biopsy and it came back as solar damage, which she said we all have pretty much all over our bodies. So don't get too nervous about this. Doctor's have a lot of liability issues and they have to be sure to cover all their bases. It just sounds like your doctor is being very thorough, which I would prefer over someone who is too blase.
Try going back over the session on obsessive, scary thoughts again and see if that helps you. and write down your negative thoughts and turn them into positive dialogue. Remember, you got good news and the chances of them finding anything bad next time are pretty slim.
Hope this helps set your mind at ease since we had sort of similar experiences.
I had a raised place on my nose a couple of years ago and went to a Mohs surgeon. She sent off a sample and it came back as actinic keratosis, which is pre-cancerous. The pathologist wanted her to then do a punch biopsy. I asked her why, since it wasn't cancer and she said the pathoogist was just very thorough and wanted to be sure. She did the biopsy and it came back as solar damage, which she said we all have pretty much all over our bodies. So don't get too nervous about this. Doctor's have a lot of liability issues and they have to be sure to cover all their bases. It just sounds like your doctor is being very thorough, which I would prefer over someone who is too blase.
Try going back over the session on obsessive, scary thoughts again and see if that helps you. and write down your negative thoughts and turn them into positive dialogue. Remember, you got good news and the chances of them finding anything bad next time are pretty slim.
Hope this helps set your mind at ease since we had sort of similar experiences.
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Guest
Blake -
I had a raised area of skin on my back removed a few years ago. It turned out to be basil cell cancer, which is very slow growing and easy to remove. It doesn't even require any treatment.
When the doctors remove the tissue around the site, there just looking for clean edges. That is, they want to be sure that everything questionable has been removed and that only healthy tissue is left. So don't worry about the second procedure. As I said, they're just cleaning up the edges.
Jamie
I had a raised area of skin on my back removed a few years ago. It turned out to be basil cell cancer, which is very slow growing and easy to remove. It doesn't even require any treatment.
When the doctors remove the tissue around the site, there just looking for clean edges. That is, they want to be sure that everything questionable has been removed and that only healthy tissue is left. So don't worry about the second procedure. As I said, they're just cleaning up the edges.
Jamie