help help help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[cloudnine]

okay i wanna cry...there's a mole on my side of my stomache, and i just realized that it is dark brown on the inside and light brown on the outside...HELP!!!!!!! could this be cancerous...please info please please please

[bill1958]

please, if you are not sure go to a doctor as soon as possible and have him/her check it. How big is it? Are the borders irregular? Is it shaped different on one side than the other? Are there more than just dark brown and light brown colors? How long has it been there? Has it changed in any way since you first noticed it? These are questions that must be answered. The mole may be nothing more than a common mole that you have not examined before. Most of the time that is the case. Again, if you are not sure go to doctor as soon as possible. Finally, early detection is key to curing many ailments, so get to the doctors when in dought.

Bill

[miss_pell]

Hi~
I would, as the other person said, see a dermatologist right away. I'm not saying that to scare you, abnormal moles are quite common on some people, such as myself. I'm 28 years old, and I went to see my dermatologist a little over a year ago because I actually had a small mole on my back that was disappearing. While he said that was completely normal, he noticed another one that I never really checked out that well because I couldn't really see it.

I had it removed right there in his office, a procedure that takes 2 seconds and is completely painless, and he sent it out to be biopsied. Now I'm not saying this to scare you, just to share my experience. It saved my life going to the doctors that day. My biopsy results came back as an 8 on a scale of 1-10, 10 being Melanoma. I had to go back in for a more in-depth surgery, they removed about a 2" area of skin on my back and got all of the "damaged skin" to make sure it was all gone. I've since had 3 more surgeries, having a total of 5 moles removed. Three came back as 8s, one was a 5 and the last was completely normal.

My experience is also based on the fact that I started going to tanning booths when I was 14. That plus the countless hours I've spent outside in the sun since I was a kid has brought me to this point. I've been 'tan-free' for almost 2 years now, and my doctor has explained to me that a lot of the moles I have on my body now just look abnormal and not to worry. But I have to go see him every 6 months to see if anything has changed.

When you go see your doctor, he/she will take a photo of the spot you're concerned about. That way each time you go back he/she can tell if it's changed at all. That should be your first step. But if you do have to have it removed, don't worry...you'll be fine For me it was better to be safe than sorry. How old are you by the way? That's always something to take into consideration. Melanoma is more common in older people.

Whatever you do, please don't ignore it. No one but you is in charge of your health. Get it checked out and then you won't have to worry about it
Take care and good luck~
Melissa

[keli2007]

HI I just went to the dr and they did a punch biopsy and the results are in they want me to come back next week and got a bigger one and or a scrap of it. They said its abnormal what ever that means but they want to do more testing they couldn't tell me if it was cancer or not so
Help me Please any one I have no idea if this is good or bad
Its on my back so

let me know what you think thanks
God bless you all!!
Kerri

[Ladypepper]

If I am understanding you correctly, they did a punch biopsy but want to get deeper margins. It was abnormal - which means it was NOT cancerous but has the potential to one day become cancerous. That doesn't mean that it definitely would - it just had the potential to.

As far as getting wider margins, that is very normal. The punch did not get clear margins so they will go and basically do a WLE (wide local excision) to make sure that all margins are clear.

This can usually be done in office and should be relatively painless at the time. Don't panic, this is all completely routine when it comes to atypical/abnormal biopsies.

Wishing you the best!