biopsy of a mole

During a routine physical with a new doctor, my wife's doctor thought it would be a good idea to get a mole biopsied that was on her stomach next to her belly button, because it has slightly larger that a pencil eraser and it kinda had a darker spot towards the center, which a dermatologist later said looked somewhat inflammated. So, the dermatologist took only a section of the mole to send to the lab for study.
My wife said she noticed the mole when my second son was born about 3.5 years ago but she said that didn't concern her, only the moles on her back and armpit (which both her GP and the dermatologist wasn't concerned about), so she hasn't noticed any changes to the mole, but wasn't looking to closely.
I've looked at alot of melanoma pictures on the web and I swear up and down that the mole that was removed doesn't look like any of them, but am very concerned why the dermatologist agreed that a biopsy should be done.  He said he was concerned about the size and the slight inflammation, but stated that it should be fine.  
Should we have reason to worry about this one?  My wife does have alot of moles, but the GP and dermatologist was only concerned about this one.

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

As dermatologists, we biopsy dozens of moles for every one that turns out to be anything at all, much less a melanoma.  It sounds like a precaution, and I very much doubt that you have anything to worry about.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff

[Twilight_Princess]

What you are describing sounds similar to the mole I had removed and biopsied last year. It is probably nothing to get overly worried about. My mole, which was on my back was a basal cell carcinoma. I didn't expect to hear that when I went to my surgeon for the follow-up that day - what a shocker. I am not a nurse, or doctor, or I do not work in the medical field, but IF, I did say IF it is a basal cell, don't get too upset over it - the doctor will only remove the rest of it, IF it is that type of mole. What I have to do now is wear sunscreen every day and I have to go for check ups every few months to the Dermatologist so he can look me over for anymore 'unusual' moles.

When was the mole biopsied? I think it took them almost 2 weeks before I got my results. Send me a message if you have anymore questions.

Best of luck to you

[huskydawg]

Everything came back fine....just a garden variety mole!!  Thank God!!!

[Twilight_Princess]

I am very happy to hear that! I bet you are so relieved!

Yup, the doc is right! They DO biopsy quite a bit of moles even the not so suspicious looking ones. I've had a few spots removed and biopsied. I think I've had 5 removed and several that the doc froze. Out of the 5 I had removed, it was 2 others that were basal cells. Of course, this runs in my family because my father has this same problem - we are both light skinned, but I have the blond hair and he has the dark hair and light colored eyes. Skin cancer usually runs in a family, at least this is what I've heard.  

Congratulations! Enjoy the holidays! :-)