“My doctor ignored my symptoms, and then I was diagnosed with cancer.” We’ve heard the same comment over and over again from people in the SurvivorNet community. One of the most egregious examples comes from writer and actress Jill Kargman, who told us that for a very long period of time, her dermatologist brushed off a mole that had been bleeding, and even worse, said things that made Jill feel that she was being ignored because she was a woman.
“You’re pregnant, that’s likely why your mole is bleeding,” Jill was told.
Read MoreAbout Melanoma
Melanoma gets lumped in together with other skin cancers, but it is quite different compared to squamous cell or basal cell which in most cases do not spread beyond the skin.
Melanoma is sometimes called a “cancer of the mole,” but it doesn’t necessarily have to arise from a preexisting mole.
The most important thing to do whenever you have a mole that you’re worried about is to get it evaluated.
When doctors evaluate a mole, it’s also very important to get a good sense of what your family history is and what your sun exposure history, according to Dr. Cecilia Larocca a dermatologist at the Centers of Melanoma and Cutaneous Oncology at The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
When you go to a dermatologist, they should ask about any history of tanning bed use, or blistering sunburns. In addition to that, they’ll ask you to unrobe so they can look over the entire skin, not just a mole that’s raising concern.
There can be other spots on the body that raise concern and this sort of screening also helps identify whether a mole is atypical, says Dr. Larocca.
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