worried!!!!

[neatfreakmom]

My mother is a melanoma survivor - her cancer was about 10 years ago.  I am a breast cancer survivor (my mastectomy was in 3/2004).  I always have been and always will be paranoid when it comes to cancer!!!  We were at the beach on Wednesday when I noticed a black mole behind my 14 year old daugther's ear.  If we hadn't been there applying sunscreen, I never would have even seen it.  At first, I thought it was a small tick.  When we got back to our room, I put on my reading glasses and examined it closely - it was definitely a small, round, BLACK mole.  Immediately my heart sank!!!  I called my mother to ask her to call the doctor Thursday (yesterday) to see if she could get us an appointment.  She was able to get her an appointment for this morning (Friday)so we packed up and came home!!!  This morning, the doctor just looked at it and said we wouldn't know without a biopsy - I wanted to hear that it wasn't MELANOMA!!! She said that the fact that it was so small made it very difficult for her to speculate.  It was about 2mm in diameter.  She did a shave biopsy and said we wouldn't hear anything until Mon. or Tues.  I looked at it in the specimen cup and it was just so small!  But the demenor of the doctor alarmed me!!  In the meantime, I am a wreck!!!!!!  If it is melanoma, how curable do you think it would be since it is small?  How long does it take melanoma to grow into the lower layers of the skin, thus spreading to other areas of the body?  I just can't believe that I have never seen it before.  Even though it was behind the ear, my daughter wears her hair pulled back a lot.  And I have always been mole concious.  We are fair skinned and we have our mole checks EVERY year!  I can't quit worrying - but I am trying not to alarm her.  She starts high school next Friday, and she is very nervous just about that alone.  What should I expect if it is melanoma?  Is the area behind you ear a place where melanoma is prevalent in teenagers.  Any info. you have will be greatly appreciated!!!

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

I understand your anxiety, but given your daughter's age, I would not expect the diagnosis to be melanoma.  In fact, I wouldn't even expect it to be anything that requires further treatment.  Small moles and lentigines (freckles) can be dark and small, just as you describe.  The doctor is surely correct to do the biopsy, but I think his demeanor represents caution and prudence, nothing more.  Please let me know what the biopsy shows.

Thanks.

Dr. Rockoff

[suhduedharbor]

Hi my name is Chad. A little over a year ago I noticed I had splotches on my chest region when I got out of the shower. Since then the red splotches have spread on to my back and on to my arms to the lower tip of my stomach. The red splotches on my back and chest region seem to have formed one large red mass. My arms are covered with circles of red splotches which seem to be getting larger. Sometimes when it is really hot my back will itch, but that is the only spot that will itch. I have googled images to see if I can find what I have from ecszema to other various types of skin problems. I do not know what it is, and it is starting to get slighty noticeable on my arms if i wear a short sleeve shirt. This summer I refuse to the beach and remove my shirt because I am downright embarrassed. Most of the spots which are not a large red spot seem to have the shape of red circlets. I do not know If i should see a doctor, a dermatologist, or what. Another thing is I am a full time student so I don't know how much it would cost to see a doctor since I don't have health insurance. I just want to be rid of these red spoltches so I can feel comfortable wearing short sleeves shirts again. My biggest worried is that this will never get cured and I will have this forever. Whatever it is, it seems to be spreading, and when it is extremely hot the spots are darker in color.
What do i do? More importantly what could I possible have? I am still a virgin so I know it is not sexual.