Hello , hope it's ok to be posting today just beside myself with worry and it's hard to talk to family members who I know are getting fed up with it .
basically I've had this mole by my belly button for about 12 years and it's always been abit different like a flat longish shape but wasn't really very big . Anyway in 2018 I got pregnant with my third child and noticed it seemed like it was getting darker and had what looked like pigmentation round the edges it also seemed bigger but not sure if that's from being so stretched as right by my belly button . I went to the doctor who said he thought it was fine but referred me anyway in a routine wait up to 2 months . I couldn't wait as my anxiety is so bad so I went private at our local spire hospital . It was a 15 minute complimentary appointment and if anything needed to be done I would need to start paying. The consultant I saw said it felt fine as he felt it with his finger and he didn't think looking at it was anything to worry about and to leave it alone while im pregnant and if I didn't like the look of it cosmetically I could have it removed after having my baby . I decided to not have it removed as he said it was ok and to be honest I didn't know too much about skin cancer then . I did speak to family and mention should I go to the nhs referral too but they reassured me there was no need and I was suffering health anxiety as I'd had a specialist look at it and say it was fine. So I forgot about it and got on with life .
forward to 2020 I fell pregnant with my forth child and again saw this mole stretched by my belly button and noticed it looked darker again the whole mole Was very dark brown now but the size and shape seemed the same , it still has pigmentation round the edge but I thought it must be fine as I had it checked . After I had my baby in jan 2021 I decided to mention it to my doctor at my 6 week check up as well as two new moles I had got . He said he thought it was fine and it was just sitting there and if it hasn't grown since 2018 there is no need to do anything. I mentioned it was a lot darker and he said it was due to pregnancy and to watch and review in 8 months . Just as I was leaving I asked if he was absolutely sure and then he second guessed and said we will send pictures . When I got home I received a call saying I have two options to watch and wait or get referred , I said referred but I was so confused why I was having to call the shots anyway he said as I'd had it looked at in 2018 he will put me in routine referal of 2 months but I said I mentally couldn't wait that long so now he has fast tracked it under the two week wait .
That day I also rang the spire hospital I went to in 2018 to see what was written about the appointment and was told no notes were taken they only write a review if they think the mole is suspicious. And then I also found out the consultant that saw me was a plastic surgeon not a dermatologist which has really worried me although she has assured me they are highly trained to look for the same things and if he had a slight doubt he would have looked into it further .
im sorry my post is so long but I'm a mum of 4 children youngest being 8 weeks and I'm so scared , I feel regret that I didn't insist on it being removed and look into it again . My mole looks so bad when I look at cancerous moles online it looks like them dark brown and two different colours jagged edges , I really feel sick to the pit of my stomach. Worried if it was bad in 2018 and it's been left and now it won't be treatable . I've googled everything there is to know and am struggling to function
