worried about melanoma

I was born with a medium sized ( smaller than a pencil eraser) mole on my collar bone.  I never thought growing up to keep tabs on it nor did my parents.  Now, i'm 22, a hypochondriac, and im really worried that its melanoma or was melanoma all this time and I never knew. I went to a dermatolgist a few months ago about it and he said as long as it doesn't change, dont worry about it. well now i think it is changing, as in getting a darker brown color and spreading out.  This might be my imagination but i doubt it.  I asked my parents to look at it and they said they dont notice a difference  ( not that they look at it all the time anyway). I have an appointment with a derm. tomorrow to get it checked out. Since its on my collar bone, the derm i saw a few months ago told me that it wouldn't be wise to get it cut out  since it wouldn't heal pretty.  Well right now, i wish i wouldnt have listened! i guess my question here is...could i have had melanoma for years and not know? and if i have it now, because i just started noticing 'changes' are my days numbered?

[Vanessa Lacuesta]

Hi,

I know this worries you but the chances that this may be melanoma is not that high. Primarily because this mole has been there for a long time and as you grow,you would expect this mole to grow also. You had this assessed by your physician and there seems to be no drastic change in its appearance that gave your physician the inkling that this is something that needs further evaluation.

Is there itchiness in the area?
Any change in color?
An irregular border? Any spread of pigmentation beyond the mole itself?

To allay your fears, you may seek a second opinion. It is important that you avoid picking on the mole. We do not want it to get infected.