Much ado over just a mole?

[Pennypuppy]

Hi,

I'm a 47 year old woman with a growth about 1 1/2 inches from my anus and it's about 3/8 of an inch in size. When I saw my gyn a couple of weeks ago he said he could remove it but he wanted to refer me to a surgeon. The gyn said he couldn't be sure if it had "deep roots" or not so it would be better to have a surgeon look at it.

The surgeon thinks "it's just a mole but the only way to know for sure is to remove it". I don't have a problem with that part of it because it has grown some in the past year. What I have a problem with is it's going to be done at a "surgery center" and I have to have blood work and an EKG done for it. All the paperwork deals with general anesthesia too.

I do take Coumadin due to Anticardiolipn Antibody which the surgeon want's me off of until the 13th.

My main question is; For crying out loud, isn't that a lott of hubbub for just a mole? Here's a link to a picture of it and your opinion would be very helpful to me.

http://s105.photobucket.com/albums/m202/pennypup/?action=view&current=mole3.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch1

It doesn't hurt, weep, seep, interfere or anything.
I'm not sure having it removed that way is worth the hastle or cost.

Anne

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Yes, it looks like a mole.  It seems just a bit irregular, but I doubt it's of any serious significance.  Moles do not have "roots."  If you see a dermatologist, he or she can shave it off in 30 seconds using novocaine.  No stitches.  That's what I'd do.

Take care.

Dr. Rockoff

[Pennypuppy]

Thank you sooooooooo very very much! I just didn't think a mole removal need to have all those bells and whistles. It's of no bother to me what so ever so if I do get it removed I'm going to have it the easy way.

Again, I want to thank you Dr. Rockoff for your help.

Anne