How long is GP referral to hospital
I have a suspicious mole on my arm. It is two colours. It's brown and has a very dark nearly black centre. I have a lot of moles on my body. This mole looks different than the rest of them due to the colour.
I went to my GP and she referred me to the hospital for removal of the mole. I think she said the plastic surgeon department for removal. She referred me as an urgent case.
I am not very stressed or anxious about the possibility of a cancer. I read online that there's a few different forms of cancer and some of them can be slow growing cancer. Hopefully it won't be cancer. However there's something in the back of my mind thinking maybe it might me. There were many different stresses in my life over the past number of years that I will not go into. I think maybe this might be a cancer.
I was investigating my arm again today. A few inches down my arm and a few inches away from the questionable mole is another mole that I don't like the look of. There's two different shades of brown in it and it looks very slight asymmetric. It's hardly noticeable. It looks like two moles on top of each other or one that is spilling outwards.
Now I am concerned due to having two moles that look questionable located withing inches of each other.
I am waiting for a referral. I was just at he GP this week and she sent the referral this week. She sent it in as an urgent case.
Just wondering how long would I be waiting for to be seen by thr hospital? I am a public patient. I am in Galway.
Comments
Dear Pink Rose,
Thank you for contacting the Irish Cancer society. It can be very stressful waiting for appointments.
Referrals to a plastic surgeon marked as urgent may take 2-3 weeks before you hear anything.
To help speed this up you could ask your GP which consultant the referral was made to.
Then you could contact their secretary to
1: Make sure that they have received the referral.
2: Ask if they could give you a timeline on how long you might be waiting for an appointment.
When you do get the appointment to see the consultant – you should show him the other Moles/ areas that you are concerned about. It might be useful to make a list of questions to bring with you so that you remember what you might like to ask.
In the meantime especially as we coming into summer it would be very important that you are SUN SMART. By covering up, using sunscreen, and avoiding sunbeds. Please see our advice for being in the Sun here
https://www.cancer.ie/cancer-information-and-support/cancer-types/skin-…
Pink Rose if you would like to contact us we are all cancer nurses on the Support line and you can contact us on Freephone 1800 200 700 Monday to Friday 9am -5pm.
Kind regards
Cancer Nurse
Thank you very much for your reply.
I was referred urgently. I'm happy to wait the 2-3 week mark as suggested by you. I may follow the path you outlined in your reply if it's longer.
It's been over a week since my GP appointment and I didn't get any mail in the post with an appointment yet and I got no call or message from the hospital either. I reckon it will be another while any ways.
It's the waiting and not knowing, that's nerve wrecking and hoping to be able to fit an appointment into my schedule too.
I practice sun safety and thank you for the reminder.
I think doctors are going to say it doesn't look sinister and its benign but there's something in my mind thinking there's a skin cancer brewing. There are a few moles I am just not happy about. I think it's going to be a skin cancer or two. I will be very surprised if its not.
It was this time last week when I was at my GP over the mole I have. Since my gp appointment I can pick out 2 more moles on my arm that I probably should have questioned. I will point them out when I get the hospital appointment.
As far as I can remember the referral was to the plastic surgeon department for removal of the mole.
I was at my gp only last week. I know there will be a waiting time and it's jot going to happen in a week. However I need to get a general time scale as to how long I wilk be waiting. I have some busy weeks ahead of me and I need to plan this. I am anxious about pain and tenderness in my arm after the mole removal too.
I just need to get some sort of a timeline so I can plan around it.
I also want to book a holiday but I am anxious about booking a holiday in case this turns out to be cancer.