Top dermatologist freaked out upon suspicious mole

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I go annually to Hopkins for a full body check of moles. Good you got yours checked. If you got it early you are in good shape.

Not all derms specialize in melanoma, so perhaps his alarm was rooted in caution more than knowledge - you have to be careful about the derms that are really into cosmetic stuff - I have found them to be very uninformed about melanoma.

With a bad family history this is why I don't mess around and go to one at Hopkins that specializes in it.

Who do you see at Hopkins? I don't have family history of melanoma but everyone (mother, father, sister, paternal aunt) has had basal and / or squamous. I have gone for full body checks at my regular derm in DC but agree many downtown seem mostly focused on cosmetic stuff.

Dr Anna chien at Columbia satellite office (she's there tues/ Thursday). You can also go downtown to Baltimore but I find that to be a PITA.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Gosh you people are so sweet and supportive..eyes welling up.

Besides my kids keeping me busy, I googled and researched this week (I know, I know, worst thing to do but I couldn't help myself and I wanted to learn more about skin cancers and esp melanoma).

I went onto skin cancer blogs and spent the week crying a lot, reading stories of struggles. I learned, though, that many patients with very advanced skin cancer are relying on turmeric extract to help.

Turmeric is a powerful anti- inflammatory, very inexpensive, and there are many studies that show it can help reduce the chances of metastatic skin cancer or prolong life.

Best to buy turmeric supplement with 95% standardized curcumin extract (that's the active ingredient in turmeric that is so helpful) and make sure it has peperine to make it more bioavailable. The stomach doesn't digest turmeric well.

Cooking turmeric only has 3-5% curcumin extract, so it's helpful in prevention of inflammation but not enough if your goal is to prevent recurrence of skin cancer.

Check this out! http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3535097/

So I just wanted to pass this along this information and I hope one New Years resolution is to take better care of your health!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Gosh you people are so sweet and supportive..eyes welling up.

Besides my kids keeping me busy, I googled and researched this week (I know, I know, worst thing to do but I couldn't help myself and I wanted to learn more about skin cancers and esp melanoma).

I went onto skin cancer blogs and spent the week crying a lot, reading stories of struggles. I learned, though, that many patients with very advanced skin cancer are relying on turmeric extract to help.

Turmeric is a powerful anti- inflammatory, very inexpensive, and there are many studies that show it can help reduce the chances of metastatic skin cancer or prolong life.

Best to buy turmeric supplement with 95% standardized curcumin extract (that's the active ingredient in turmeric that is so helpful) and make sure it has peperine to make it more bioavailable. The stomach doesn't digest turmeric well.

Cooking turmeric only has 3-5% curcumin extract, so it's helpful in prevention of inflammation but not enough if your goal is to prevent recurrence of skin cancer.

Check this out! http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3535097/

So I just wanted to pass this along this information and I hope one New Years resolution is to take better care of your health!

OP: were you actually diagnosed with skin cancer? What were your actual results? Or are you still waiting for the results?

[Anonymous]

No, the derm was almost certain I had it though. He was already predicting the stage, too. I waited out the time by reading posts on skin cancer support web sites, just preparing myself, and there I learned about turmeric.

[Anonymous]

Ok. I think I posted earlier in this thread about my experience where my Doctor was certain I had skin cancer as well...but he was wrong. Try not to worry about it until you are actually diagnosed.

[Anonymous]

OP - any news?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I had a friend many years ago who ignored a blackish mole on her back for a few yrs.

Dont Do This.

There are handy little guides to use to look at mole features. Get one. Know your body. But if you have any concerns...go get it looked at!
DW's back has quite a few atypical moles, so I'm always watching there. I'm getting ready to ask for the most atypical ones to be removed, so we dont have to keep an eye on them. Genes genes genes...