Mole on 11 year old daughter

[linmd]

Hello,

  My question is about a mole that my 11 year old daughter has.  It is behind her ear actually on her scalp.  We had it checked by a dermatologist when she was 4 years old in 2001 ( that is the first time I noticed it- so I don't actually know for sure if it was there since birth.)  The dermatologist said it was fine.  It is about the size of one and a half  pencil erasers put together, round, and had always been light brown.  Last year at her 10 year old pediatrician check up, they said to have it checked again so we took her to a different dermatologist (insurance changed) and she said it was fine, just keep an eye on it for changes.  This was 11 months ago (June 2007).  I noticed this week that there was a darker spot now towards the center of this mole; this spot is dark brown to blackish.  Took her to same practice that saw it 11 months ago, and now that dermatologist has moved, so the PA saw her.  He said it needed to be biopsied, so removed it.  I tried not to freak in front of my child so as not to scare or alarm her, so I could'nt press him as much as I'd have liked to, but I asked him if it could just be atypical and he said oh sure, most (90 something percent) of these things are.  He said "we just like to get these early so they don't have a chance to turn into anything.  He must have seen how worried I looked, because he said three different times "I wouldn't lose sleep over this" and "this is nothing to lose sleep over", which makes me feel better, but I still am sick with worry.  He said if the darker spot in the middle had been half that small he would'nt even have biopsied it.  He said these things grow and change slowly; even melanoma grows slowly. (I had mentioned melanoma earlier). So I freaked thinking why would he even mention melanoma.  My question is could it have turned into melanoma since it was checked 11 months ago, and does it sound like melanoma to you?  We won't get results for 2 weeks!! Thank you so much.

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

The chances are overwhelming that this will turn out to be nothing at all.  Ordinary moles often develop black spots in them.  I get annoyed when people tell me they have to wait two weeks for results--my skin pathology laboratory sends them back in a day.  Call and insist that you hear sooner.  

Best.

Dr. Rockoff

[linmd]

Thank you for your answer, it really put my mind at ease.  Thank you also for making yourself available to this forum.  I will take your advice and call tomorrow!

Have a great day,

Lana G.