Boy, that must’ve been/must be scary. Hopefully you’re in the clear.

My uncle was diagnosed with it about a year ago, so it’s definitely on my radar more now than it used to be. Which reminds me that I’m overdue for my annual full-body skin check at the derm’s!

Good reminder as we head into sunny spring & summer. Just this Monday I started a 2-week course of Fluorouracil for a spot on my cheek. I am now looking into spray tanning since the 80's in me love's to be tan. It's been an ugly, splotchy ride so far.

I've had skin cancer on my face in three places -- 2 squamous cell and 1 basal cell. The basal cell carcinoma was right next to the tear duct at the inner corner of my right eye, so I had to have Mohs surgery for it. I am very vigilant now, and rarely go in the sun without lots of protection.

A thoughtful reminder, Sephia. We went for our annual skin checks a few days ago. Several years back, DH had a basal cell found on his shoulder and I had one under my eyebrow. Easily resolved when discovered early. This year she took some cells from two reddish flat spots on my legs, matching - one on each shin right in front and will let me know if she wants me to come back and have those removed. She thought their dual presence really weird, but warned me they looked suspicious to her for basal cell.

Our nephew's wife had a melanoma removed from the back of her hand two years ago. A tiny little red mark that didn't look threatening at all. I was so frightened for her, their baby had just had his first birthday and they were hoping to begin a second baby-to be. Surgery and skin grafts. Follow-ups are indicating its resolved. She was given the surgeons blessing to become pregnant again, and has ;0)

That's scary, Morz. We're all taught to identify dark, irregular melanoma but a small red one would be hard to screen for. I get tiny cherry angiomas all over.

When you get skin exams, do they look everywhere? I have had many different dermatologists do them and none have done a thorough one, including scalp, mouth, between fingers and toes, etc. They check limbs and back. I'm wondering if that's unusual. I mostly want my scalp checked as it's the only thing I can't see myself. I've requested it and it's a quick 5 second look that doesn't seem thorough enough.

I've tried local derms and ones associated with the highly ranked university nearby, both in California and Massachusetts, and it's always the same experience.

Chi- If you didn’t disrobe for it then it definitely wasn’t thorough. And, yes, the doctor needs to check between your fingers and toes, palms and soles, and scalp—I think anywhere that’s been exposed to the sun. Also, don’t forget indoor tanning counts as exposure, so if you’ve exposed more of your skin in the privacy of a tanning bed than you would normally, you need to be checked EVERYWHERE. ;)

Only one doctor had me take off any clothing and I kept my underwear on. The others just looked around clothing, though I wore a strappy dress that was able to show a lot of my skin for that reason.

I go yearly, mainly to keep up my Retin-a prescription, but also to get a skin check. I have fairly dark, olive skin, and when I was younger spent a lot of time in the sun, so I keep tabs on anything odd going on. At nearly 70 now, I have been lucky so far, but I do wear sunscreen and a hat when I know I will be outside for any length of time. And yes, my dermatologist (or her PA or CRNP) does check all over.

My hairdresser is trained in recognizing suspicious things. When she's cutting my hair, she pays attention to any new looking spot or mole. She can't diagnose anything, but can bring something unusual to my attention.

Also, remember that melanoma isn't just caused by sun / UV ray exposure. It can develop anyone where on the skin in the melanocytes - which are all over. My friend's husband who got it on the bottom of his foot - the sole of his foot probably didn't get much sun exposure. And Jimmy Carter had melanoma on his brain. There's also "ocular" melanoma - of the eye. It's really important to wear eye protection when outdoors.

And people of color can get melanoma too. African Americans can get it - but unfortunately when they do it's caught in the late stages because they don't have regular skin exams by dermatologists.

I get a skin screening every April. It's time.

I've had five melanomas removed and three basal cells. One set of three melanomas were intertwined, that was on my arm and the surgery took a good chunk. Another was on my breast and I objected, saying that had never "been exposed" so how could that be? The dermatologist told me some women had have melanomas develop in even MORE private areas, that have not been exposed. Evidently melanoma doesn't require the spot where it's growing to have been in the sun, only that someplace on your body has been exposed. That's very unnerving, especially when you're extremely susceptible as I am. I get bi-annual checkups, this last one found the 5th melanoma on the other arm, and it was removed two weeks later.

One night last week I had a dream that I was in the hospital and the doctor came in to see me. He looked at my face and said to me when was the last time you saw a dermatologist. I made an appointment for July 18 the first I could get in. I had been wanting to make an appointment for a while now. I almost felt like this was a premonition that it was time.

That's right Mystical Manns, melanoma can develop on any part of your body. Even where the sun doesn't shine ;>) As I said on a previous post, Jimmy Carter had it on his brain. Your brain isn't exposed to the sun. Tumors were found, so he took a drug that at the time was experimental, called Keytruda, and it got rid of the tumors.

This is from the Melanoma Research Foundation:

"Melanoma is usually, but not always, a cancer of the skin. It begins in melanocytes – the cells that produce the pigment melanin that colors the skin, hair and eyes. It can be a cutaneous melanoma of the skin, whereas mucosal melanoma occurs in any mucous membrane of the body, including the nasal passages, the throat, the vagina, the anus, or in the mouth, and then there's ocular melanoma. It's a rare form of melanoma that occurs in the eye."

Melanoma Research Foundation

That's a long wait. Are there others in your area?

no except a new one and she isn't taking any more patients now

Chi, our dermatologist (with 5 PAs in his office too) checks scalp, inside mouth, between toes, anywhere we have skin. Modesty goes out the window when there ;0)

Our niece-in-laws melanoma was frightening. She'd had a dark mole on the back of her other hand since I'd known her. A raised mole, and more than once I'd wondered why she hadn't had it removed only because it seemed to me she would be bumping it often, especially caring for a baby. When she called about the skin cancer, I assumed that was it. No, it was a new-since-she'd-had-the- baby little red place on the back of her other hand that really looked to me like no concern. The surgeon took the skin (and I don't know how many layers underneath) from the entire back of her hand, closed it with a skin graft that he took from the inside of her other wrist and forearm. They removed some lymph nodes from her underarm area on that side, all clean.

I called to set up my screening today. They told me because i was a patient of that particular doctor in that practice, i had 2 options: call every morning between 8 and 8:30 to TRY and get in the same day,or they could set a guaranteed appointment,which would be around the middle of August. Really? A 3 month wait for a skin cancer screening and some moles removed. (I HATE moles) The worst part is I called 4 other dermatologists and the wait was around the same. Guess I'll be making that call every morning......

Yeah, with the huge jump in skin cancer / melanoma diagnoses, more and more people are making appointments with dermatologists. It's good that you're trying to get an appointment.