I had a scare this week when I started researching to find out what kind of mole was growing on the back of my leg. It was small, dome shaped, and black. It seemed to be getting bigger and a purple area was forming around it. On Monday I called to get a dermatology appointment. The earliest anyone could see me was a nurse practitioner on April 4. I made the appointment and went about my day. That night I looked up cancerous moles out of curiosity, and the worst form of skin cancer, nodular melanoma, was the closest match to what I had growing on me. The more I read, the worse it sounded, and the more pictures I looked at, the more I became worried that it was what I had. I have several of the risk factors for developing it. I had already had 3 moles removed, two of which were confirmed to be at risk of eventually becoming melanoma, but none were melanoma yet.
Nodular melanoma grows fast and spreads to other organs much sooner than regular melanoma. Time is essential, and I had ignored this mole until the purple began forming because it didn't have the characteristics of standard melanoma. I had never heard of nodular melanoma until I saw the pictures of it that looked similar to what I had on my leg. It looked most like the early stage photos, but this form of skin cancer can spread while still in its early phase because it grows vertical above and below the skin before spreading horizontally.
I could not sleep Monday night. I called off work Tuesday and spent the morning trying to convince all 3 dermatology offices in town to see me right away. The nurse practitioner that I had the Apr 4 appointment with was the only one who would see me within a month. She agreed to get me in between appointments on Wednesday. After I had the appointment I was able to relax a little. I slept for a few hours, and then went in to work for the last 2 hours of the day. Wednesday morning I had a CBC to make sure my ITP had not returned so that the mole could be surgically removed without excessive blood loss. My count was 264. Maybe stress does help counts. I really think God was watching over me that day because I needed it.
The nurse practitioner looked at my mole and agreed we needed to biopsy it that day. She did the minor surgery in her office, put the skin she had removed in a jar, and sent it to Chicago for testing. I asked her what else it could be, and she didn't have a very convincing answer.
Friday I got the most relieving phone call of my life. It was not cancer. It was not even a mole. It was an Angiokeratoma. It was a completely benign type of localized capillary malfunction that resembled the worst form of skin cancer. I looked up pictures and it did look like a solitary or traumatized Angiokeratoma.
Now my only remaining question is whether the low platelet count I had last fall due to ITP could have caused the Angiokeratoma to begin forming. It was harmless, except to my mental state, and that of my family and friends. I really wonder if it has anything to do with ITP. Has anyone else had an Angiokeratoma?
