Welcome to Hermitville. Population One. - Another Trip to the Doctor

04:52 am - Another Trip to the Doctor

I have to visit the doctor tomorrow because I don't like the look of one of my moles. The mole has a couple of small dark spots on it, and I think the mole has grown in size. It itches. The mole is on my back, which is the most common place melanoma arises in men (for women, it's the leg).

I had trouble going to sleep last night as I worried about melanoma, and I woke up early this morning thinking of melanoma. Cancer is my worst fear. I know melanoma is treatable at  an early stage, but I got a sick feeling as I read up on the subject, especially when I found this:

Although many melanomas are completely cured, some melanomas spread so quickly that a patient can have large masses of melanoma in the lymph nodes, lungs, brain, gastrointestinal tract or liver while the original skin melanoma is still small.

... or how about this one...

Melanoma in its early stage is difficult even for trained physicians to detect. In one recent study, resident primary care physicians misdiagnosed skin cancers 50% of the time. Other studies have shown that the ability of a primary care physician to correctly diagnose melanoma improves with experience but even after 10 years in practice, the mis-detection rate can exceeds 30%. For this reason, it is highly recommended that all suspicious moles be examined by a qualified, experienced dermatologist. If you are a member of an HMO, ask your primary care physician for a referral.

Guess I'm asking for a second opinion if the Dr. tells me not to worry.