Brynna's mole

Brynna had a suspicious mole suddenly appear back in April. It grew rapidly and darkened until July. At her 3yr check up in September, the pediatrician said it had to come off. We were originally scheduled to have it removed by a surgeon in November but that appt was canceled due to me feeling uncomfortable with the surgeon we were going to see. I scheduled her with another doctor for December. He agreed it needed to be removed, mentioned the word "melanoma" more than I would have liked, and said he wanted a specialist to remove it because she could possibly end up with a skin graft if the mole came back abnormal. Thankfully, he was able to get us in to a dermatologist quickly. We saw her on the 29th. She looked at her mole under a microscope. She believes it's a Spitz nevus. She said they look scary to the eye and scary under the microscope but are benign. Phew! Big sigh of relief! She actually said that if we wanted to wait and watch it, we could but if there was ANY change, it would need to come off right away. I decided we were already prepared for it to come off that day, and I really didn't want to be worrying about it. She drew around the mole to show us where she would cut...we joked with Brynna that it looked like an eye. The doctor also asked if I was sure I wanted to do it in the office. She thought with her age, it might be better to have a plastic surgeon do it under anesthesia. But, I know my 3 year old...She has been a calm little girl from the very beginning. She did wonderfully...cried but laid still and cooperated. The doctor and nurses were amazed, and the doc said, "My 3 yr old would have never done this!" I said, "Oh, my 5 yr old wouldn't have done it either, but I knew Brynna would." Gramma went with us and promised Brynna she could have ice cream when it was done. It was only 10:30am but we took her to McDonalds for ice cream! She was a happy little girl then! She has 4 stitches and will have them removed in 2 weeks.

Looking like an eye...

Not too happy after it was all done.

Much happier now! :)

Of course, I had to come home and research Spitz Nevi. :) They used to be called "benign juvenile melanoma" due to their appearance as melanoma and typically being found in children. As for how they change...Brynna's meets this criteria. It appeared suddenly, had rapid growth, and then stabilized within 6 months. But, Spitz nevi typically start out as a red papule and range in color from skin-tone to reddish-brown. Brynna's did not start as a red papule and was definitely black. Pathologically, the spitz nevi are so similar to melanoma, it said even some expert pathologists have difficulty determining the difference. This makes me a little uneasy...knowing a melanoma could be missed...not just in my child but anyone. I'm glad we went ahead with removing it too since all the info I read said surgical removal was recommended. I'm not too worried since Brynna appears to be completely healthy, but I'm still anxious to see the pathology report. :)

Update: The dermatologist called to say Brynna's mole did come back consistent with a Spitz nevus. All of the borders looked ok, so they won't have to remove any more! PTL for a good report!!