- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months
strimble26
member
I think I have skin cancer (mole related) TMI
strimble26
member
A week and a half ago a mole I have on my back started itching really bad. I scratched it pretty hard and it started bleeding. I thought it bled just because I scratched it, but it still has not healed. I got a hand mirror and took a good look at it today and it does not look good. It looks mishapen now and the center is hollow looking now and bloody, like an open sore. It is definitely not healing and looks terrible. So I googled today and it looks JUST like pictures of squamous cell carcinoma. From what I read as well, it seems like the exact same symptoms I have experienced with it. I know, google is not the best idea but you know you would all do the same thing! Anyways I will call a dermatologist Monday. Luckily from what I have read it is easily dealt with and super common. Has anyone here had a cancerous mole removed? Im scared, not of the cancer part because who knows if it really is, but of having it poked and proded and scooped out 
This discussion has been closed.
Re: I think I have skin cancer (mole related) TMI
Go to the dermatologist
I had to get two weird ones cut off this week and sent out for biopsy. One was on my face
You will feel better if you go.
Does it hurt?? Im so scared of having something cut off my body! And I hope yours turn out ok!!!
My grandmother had a couple of cancerous moles removed when she was in her late 60s/early 70s. She never had any other cancerous moles, or cancer in general. It's still scary to hear "cancer", but you are right- **IF** that is what it is, it's VERY /easily treatable.
GL!
Hopefully the dermotologist will have some answers. They will do a biposy, which will hurt. I had two cancerous moles removed from my back. Mine had white rings around them.
They gave me some local anesthesia and removed the moles and about an inch of skin around it. I was sore for a couple weeks and have some pretty mean scars. But since then, my moles have been fine. I was 18.
I also don't go out into the sun without sunscreen.
Good luck and try not to worry too much.
Emily 8.8.08
Madeline 1.2.11
William 8.5.12
I had a mole removed. It wasn't cancerous but it was "suspicious."
The removal was no big deal at all. They numb your skin, which stings a little, and then you don't feel anything. It didn't really hurt afterward either. It left a bit of a scar, but nothing too bad.
Definitely get it checked out--GL.
DH had a mole in his mouth that was suspicious. The only reason it was caught was because I finally got him to go to the dentist for a routine cleaning and the dentist happen to see the mole and told him she didn't like the looks of it and referred him to an oral surgeon. The oral surgeon ageed and they had to cut it out and send it to the lab to see if it was cancerous. What drove me insane is that DH said he noticed it there for a year and didn't think it was a big deal! I googled "melanoma in the mouth" and "cancer of the mouth" and it looked exactly like DH's mole. It also said "brown spots" which is what DH had were "most likely to be cancerous." I was scared to death and concvinced he had cancer.
As it turned out (after 3 weeks of waiting for the labs to come back), it was benign and not a big deal. Just want you to know that even when something seems horrible according to google, can be totally fine :-) Glad you made an appointment and it looks like even if it was anything, you caught it early!
I had to force DH to get a mole looked at. It looked exactly like the pictures I had seen of cancerous moles, but it turned out to be nothing. Hopefully that's the case with what you found.
Otherwise, I've usually heard good things about treatment for cancerous moles. But I've mainly heard of complications from waiting too long. Make sure you get in soon.
I'm sure it's nothing, though. But good luck and I'm sending good thoughts your way.
Oh but what pushed me to go was. My friend had one on her face too after being pregnant and she went and got it removed. They told her it looked be-nine(sp) and it turned out to be skin cancer (the least scary one). But she is pregnant now and has to try and treat it. Very scary. Mine looked just like hers so I seriously went like the next day. I will hear back in a week or so.
I just feel like we are so young to be dealing with this, especially since I always took care of my skin.
You will feel a lot better after they check it out, and most likely it will be nothing.
I had a malignant melanoma many years ago and it's all a distant memory now. Since then, I've had lots of little suspicious "spots" removed but that's because I'm fair skinned and I spent my childhood in the pool without much suncreen. As I'm sure you've read, almost all skin cancers are very easily treated so don't worry too much. As far as the poking part goes, your dermatologist will most likely remove it and it's not as bad as you might think. They'll give you a shot that's more like a prick (at least in my case) to numb the area and you won't feel anything after that. You might need a small stitch or two but the spot will heal quickly. Good luck!
Last summer my mom, sister and I all pledged to make an appointment with a dermatologist (none of us had ever been to one) for a skin check, and then annually going forward. My mom and my sister both had normal skin checks. I had a bunch of moles I was concerned about, but oddly enough, the one they were concerned about I didn't even know existed. When they removed it, they gave me a shot of lidocaine first (just felt a little prick) and the removed it. It didn't hurt at all. I needed six stitches, and that didn't hurt either, just felt tugging and pulling. I went back two weeks later to get the stitches out, but it wasn't healing right, and the dermatologist prescribed me an antibiotic cream. The biopsy of the mole came back as a dysplastic mole, basically it wasn't normal, but it wasn't cancerous. Those moles are considered higher risk of turning into skin cancer. I now have to be checked every six months to a year.
I too wasn't as diligent about skin care in my late teens/early twenties. I have very fair skin and so if used sunblock, I stayed pasty white, but not using sunblock, I burnt like a lobster. Being young, I just wanted to be tan (even if it mean burning and then the burn turning into tan), so I wasn't very good with sunblock. I'm a lot better now, especially since becoming a mom, and lather on the sunblock religiously when I'm out in the sun.
Good luck with everything! You'll be in my thoughts.
I had to have one removed a few years ago. They can either just shave the mole off or cut it out. depends on the type/size of the mole and how suspicious it is. Mine had to be cut out. Got some lidocaine, removed the mole and then needed some internal and external stitches. It was sore for probably a week but just because it was in an odd spot so the area was pulled a lot. It really wasn't that bad. If you have had a child, I'm pretty sure you can handle having a mole removed. It will be a piece of cake in comparison!
And mine ended up being dysplastic, which is not normal but not cancerous. Basically it would have likely turned into cancer so it was a good thing that it was removed.
i have had 4 suspicious moles removed, in 3 different ways b/c of the type of mole i guess??. All of them came back fine.
The one on my neck was removed with a laser. They gave me a shot to numb me, and it was fine.
The two on my upper back were frozen off with liquid nitrogen. They didn't numb me first, and the removal felt like a bee sting. Those created blisters underneath which turned into scabs and they fell off later (gross, but not painful)
The one on my lower back was cut our b/c it was large and the most suspicious. She cut a much larger area than the mole actually was. She numbed me first and cut it out with a scalpel. This one was a little sore afterward, but only b/c she had to take so much I think.
The first 3 I mentioned have very minimal scarring, but the one on my lower back has a big purple puffy scar, even after mederma. MUCH better than skin cancer though. I was terrified to get mine off and finally caved one day. Not bad at all, seriously.
I had a mole on my lower back removed a couple months ago. It popped up out of nowhere, so I wanted to get it checked out. My dr. removed part of it for testing. She did some local anesthetic and then scraped off a portion of the mole. The testing came back pre-cancerous, so I went back to have more removed. She took out a big chunk that time, and I had 6 stitches from it. Honestly, neither procedure was that bad, but I compare everything to childbirth now
You'll feel much better once you get it checked out.
I've had a few removed. The worst one was on my toe (next to my little toe). None of them were cancerous, per se, but they were "pre-cancerous" which meant that eventually they would become cancerous.
He shaved the mole off my toe and found that he didn't get it all and I had to have surgery on it. He had to remove quite a bit of skin around it and I actually had stitches on that one.
The shot of lidocaine (sp?) is the worst of it (I close my eyes when they are shaving it off and can't even tell when they're doing it). It gets a little ache-y as the lidocaine wears off, but you just take some Advil for that. Then you just have to keep aquaphor and a bandaid on it for a week or so.
Good luck!