Earlier this year I had a malignant melanoma (skin cancer) removed from my leg - the mole had been flaring up on and off for ages but it grew when I was pregnant with DD1. I showed it to my dermatologist then and he said not to worry, that he would take it out once the baby was born but that it wasn't anything too scary. In the event he was wrong and it turned out to be a nasty one, albeit a very small one. Since then I have regular check ups.
Last month I noticed that a large mole that my dermatologist has always kept a close eye on (since I've been seeing him in 2002) has grown a small nodule on the very edge of it. This happened for a couple of days very very early on in my pregnancy and died down of it's own accord. This time it hasn't died down. I went straight to the dermatologist clinic and he looked at it again and said it was OK and that it was just a pregnancy thing (am 31+4). It doesn't seem to itch (tho this is hard to tell as it's on my abdomen and just at my waistband level which is generally itchy especially if something is too tight) and although the mole itself is stretched due to the growth of my pregnant tum it doesn't seem to have actually grown much.
The thing is... despite the dermatologist saying it's all OK I am still really worrying myself over it. I can't help but feel that my first pregnancy caused my first skin cancer and I'm terrified that history is repeating itself, especially with him saying lets leave it for now and we'll have another look when the baby's born because he's worried about the risk of infection if he cuts it out now. I have a check up with him end Feb 06 (baby due in early December). The trouble is this is bothering me and when I wake at night I'm finding it hard to get back to sleep because it's on my mind. I understand that when pregnant skin cancer can spread more easily due to the enhance volume of the blood in the body. Also the location on it is worrying - can they cut out a mole from my abdomen when I'm heavily pregnant? It's doing my head in.
I feel embarrassed going back to the clinic though. That's the big problem. I'm not very assertive around medical people and I don't want to waste their time. What I've gone and done instead is to book an appointment with my GP to have a look tomorrow and to see if she can refer me to another dermatologist for second opinion.
So... two questions (one for maymen the other for anypone who's a medic)
- What would you do?
- Can they cut out a mole on your abdomen when pregnant?
Got to go to a meeting but will check back later.
T.I.A.