Weird mole under arm; dad diagnosed with melanoma...

I've had this mole under my arm for at least a few years, being the size of a pencil eraser, raised, and much darker than the surrounding skin but not quite black. I didn't think much of it other than not liking it until my dad was diagnosed with melanoma for a very similar lump on his neck.

 

My anxiety comes from the shoddy state of "health care" right now. I am not insured, have only spotty and conditional coverage under a county program, and have to wait weeks to even know if I can see a dermatologist to get this thing removed. I already had a nurse look at it and she said it looked "suspicious"...

 

I guess I'm saying I'm very anxious about it. I'm 30 and I've heard of people dying from these things earlier than me. The pain above all if something like this metastizes scares me the most.

 

Anyone have moles like this? Experiences? Insights?

since you don't have good health care, try goggling to see if you can get a image/description of your mole.  Of course, it wouldn't be 100% diagnosis, but its a start.  I have had dark raised and round moles biopsied and have come back benign.  But, being that your dad has, they will want to check you every 6 mos. 

I'm scared silly right now. It's a coin toss whether it's malignant or not if I take the pictures I see online of both for what they are. I have enough problems right now; this aggravates them.

 

I feel like something terrible could happen in the weeks I'm waiting to hear back from the clinic. I called today but only got a voice mail message. To these doctors we're just numbers, but being that number is a different thing.

I've had melanoma two times so I can understand your fear.  Are the borders of the mole irregular, or is it pretty symmetrical?  Are there different colors in the mole, or is it mostly one color?  Has it grown since it was the size of a pencil eraser (6mm) or has it stayed the same?

It's roughly the size I first saw it, though my anxiety tends to add to its width without clearly proving its actually bigger.

 

It's symmetrical, if ovid.

 

It's the same color all around, though the non-raised rim is slightly lighter because the surrounding skin is so light.

 

The "wait a few weeks, maybe 6 weeks" thing is driving me nuts!

I'm very tempted to play surgeon with it... I'm too poor to really get too much attention to this, maybe that one visit in a few weeks, tops, if the county is willing to cover it.

It's roughly the size I first saw it, though my anxiety tends to add to its width without clearly proving its actually bigger.

 

It's symmetrical, if ovid.

 

It's the same color all around, though the non-raised rim is slightly lighter because the surrounding skin is so light.

 

The "wait a few weeks, maybe 6 weeks" thing is driving me nuts!

 

If it hasn't grown, this is a good thing, although I understand how it's possible to watch it grow before your very eyes.    The fact that it's symmetrical is great, it's the irregular borders that you need to watch out for.  The uniform color is also good, it's when the mole has different colors in it that it's suspicious.  All in all, I think this is good news, so I hope you can rest a little easier until your appointment.

 

 

I'm very tempted to play surgeon with it... I'm too poor to really get too much attention to this, maybe that one visit in a few weeks, tops, if the county is willing to cover it.

 

Don't cut it out yourself, when you see the Dr, he'll biopsy it.  If it does come back as malignant, they'll cut again only this time take a bigger hunk to make sure they've got it all with clean margins.  Melanoma when caught early has a 100% recovery rate, try to hang in there.

Thank you, I'll try... I just want to know that my referral is going through, at least. I don't want to wait weeks and have nothing come of it.

I have tons of flat moles on my arms (in my family we call them beauty marks, sounds better  ). My dad has had melanoma on his back several times. Because of this I go once a year for a full nude screening at my dermatologist. The doctor says the flat dark ones are the ones to worry will turn. The raised ones he tells me not to worry about.