4 ms·
Recently, I had a mole on the top of my foot about an inch or two from my toes that grew from a normal size small dot to bigger than a pencil eraser in the span
by throwlotterywon 5y ago
Recently, I had a mole on the top of my foot about an inch or two from my toes that grew from a normal size small dot to bigger than a pencil eraser in the span of two months. I went to the doctor, not suspecting any cancer, but because it was ANNOYINGLY itchy and started to grow a red ring around it. For context, I'm a nerdy software engineer who RARELY ventures outside of an air conditioned room, obviously no tanning or anything like that.
When I got there, the doctor, who was a local UCSF-trained expert, suddenly looked very stressed out and started taking pictures of it. He kept insisting I get tested for deadly skin cancer (remember, melanoma is AGGRESSIVE) in a very roundabout way, but would not give any probabilities or anything like that. The more I asked questions, the less information he would give about what was going on, other than that I should get a biopsy RIGHT NOW in his office (he even told his other patients to wait a while).
He numbed my foot with a shot, and then took the dermatology equivalent of an ice cream scooper and dug out a sizable chunk of my flesh. I was told I had to wait for two weeks for the results -- the most agonizingly stressful two weeks of my life -- hearing the news was less stressful. "We'll call you if there's any problems, if you don't get a phone call, nothing is wrong. See you at your next appointment!"
The results were a rare "spitz nevus" precancerous mole that looks exactly like melanoma but is completely benign. I had won the lottery. The doctor took even more pictures the next time.
So, to answer the article's question, no we are NOT screening too much for skin cancer; otherwise, I would have known to be in the doctor's office a LOT sooner. And I am a shut-in who does not sun bathe or even go outside for more than 30 minutes at a time on the occasional weekend...
- rscho 5y agoStatistically speaking, your individual story says next to nothing about what we should do regarding screening. And screening strategies are all about statistical analysis.
- throwlotterywon 5y agoWhat's the downside to screening more?
- taneq 5y agoI'm surprised he only took a sample. Where I live, anything suspected of being melanoma gets removed immediately, it's still sent off for testing to see whether it was cancerous or not but if you're taking a biopsy might as well just take it out entirely.
- rscho 5y ago> I'm surprised he only took a sample. The lesion was likely too big to comfortably remove in-office.
- taneq 5y agoYikes, if so then it's incredibly lucky that it wasn't melanoma, that would likely have been too late.
- throwlotterywon 5y agoRight.
- elric 5y agoWell done on spotting it! I have hundreds of moles. I can't even imagine how I'd be able to keep track of any increases in size, there are more than I can remember.
- adrianN 5y agoTake pictures once a month and compare them. If you have lots of moles you're in a high-risk group.
- throwlotterywon 5y agoIt was large and visible and itchy enough that you couldn't miss it.
- thaumasiotes 5y ago> "We'll call you if there's any problems, if you don't get a phone call, nothing is wrong. See you at your next appointment!" This is definitely the wrong way to do it. If nothing's wrong, I want to hear about it.