Experiences of melanoma
Caroline's story
I am a 34 year old teacher, married with two beautiful daughters age 11
and 10. In the autumn of 2008, my husband noticed what looked like a light
brown patch in my hairline just above my right cheekbone. It was around 7 mm
in diameter and had a black spot in the middle. My husband made me promise
to make a doctor’s appointment as soon as possible. I wasn’t unduly
concerned at this stage because I have many moles and I am not much of a sun
worshipper. By late November, the blemish/mole thing had grown in size and
darkened in colour so I finally phoned my GP surgery. I could only get an
appointment with a nurse practitioner who re-assured me that it looked fine
and was nothing to worry - so glad I decided to seek a second opinion!
By mid December, I managed to get an appointment with my regular GP who
decided it was serious enough to send a photograph to a consultant at the
dermatology department at the University of Wales Hospital, Cardiff. Just
two days later, my GP phoned me to tell me I had an appointment with the
consultant the following week. It was at this point I began to worry as I
was well aware of what a 2 week referral meant! At my appointment, I was
reassured by the consultant that she was 99.9% sure the blemish/mole thing
was nothing to worry about and to ‘go off and enjoy Christmas’! I then told
her that I would be happier if it was removed, which she agreed to do a
month later.
My surgery in January 09 went smoothly and I was told the results would be
back in 4 weeks but not to worry as it was extremely unlikely it was
anything sinister, I made an appointment to have my wound checked for a
month later. A week before this appointment, I received a letter cancelling
my appointment due to ‘unforseen circumstances’, telling me another would be
made soon. I wrongly assumed that they would have my results back by this
stage and that this was further confirmation that everything was fine. 6
weeks later, I saw my GP for another matter and she asked how I’d got on at
my dermatology follow up, when I told her they’d cancelled my appointment
and I was waiting for another date, she told me that she’d look in to it.
Later that day, I got home to a message asking me to ring the dermatology
department. When I called, the receptionist told me there had been an ‘admin
error’ and the consultant would like to see me as soon as possible.
I got to my appointment to find a very serious looking consultant and nurse
who informed me that my blemish/mole thing had been a melanoma, (0.3mm)To
say I was shocked was an understatement. I was booked in for a WLE. Once the
news had sunk in, I began to feel very angry, especially when I found out
they had my pathology results back nearly 8 weeks before my diagnosis! I
complained and had the usual apology/admin error story, and then later the
news that particular consultant had left the trust and had received a
promotion!!!
My WLE results came back clear and I had further surgery to remove another
suspicious mole on my arm. At my first 3 monthly check up in August 09, I
saw a new consultant who had started that week, could barely communicate in
English and had difficulty distinguishing between his left and right, (he
sent me to have photographs taken of the wrong arm and wrong leg!) The nurse
who was assisting during the consultation was so horrified, she actually
told me to complain! So off I went to complain again!! I was offered another
check up with the top consultant 2 weeks later, and thankfully, he was very
helpful and knowledgeable and for the first time since my diagnosis I
finally felt reassured! I have been clear of melanoma for 6 months now and I
am trying to get on with my life hoping that I remain that way.