Hi Slowtwitch-

I had a dermatology appointment as part of an executive physical recently. They found a mole they didn't like, so removed it and did some testing on it. It came back 'moderately' abnormal (not cancerous, but these types of moles can become cancerous is the explanation I was given). They would like to remove more material around the area where the mole was originally removed. The mole is on my mid-inner thigh, and there will be several stitches. I am currently training for IMLP (23-Jul). My questions are:

1. If I do this before the race, how long am I likely to need to be off training? They are saying two days for exercise and one week for swimming, but I have a neighbor with an almost identical situation, and she took much longer to recover (she is not an athlete). Her mole may have been larger than mine, took eight stitches. The placement of the mole just seems worrisome for both running and cycling.

2. If there are any dermatologists here - what is the real risk in just waiting until August to get this thing removed. I perceive it to be quite low. I only spoke to a nurse, but she was uncomfortable with this course of action.

Thanks!

Eric

Hi Slowtwitch-

I had a dermatology appointment as part of an executive physical recently. They found a mole they didn't like, so removed it and did some testing on it. It came back 'moderately' abnormal (not cancerous, but these types of moles can become cancerous is the explanation I was given). They would like to remove more material around the area where the mole was originally removed. The mole is on my mid-inner thigh, and there will be several stitches. I am currently training for IMLP (23-Jul). My questions are:

1. If I do this before the race, how long am I likely to need to be off training? They are saying two days for exercise and one week for swimming, but I have a neighbor with an almost identical situation, and she took much longer to recover (she is not an athlete). Her mole may have been larger than mine, took eight stitches. The placement of the mole just seems worrisome for both running and cycling.

2. If there are any dermatologists here - what is the real risk in just waiting until August to get this thing removed. I perceive it to be quite low. I only spoke to a nurse, but she was uncomfortable with this course of action.

Thanks!

Eric

I'm having 4 moles removed in about 1 hour. They are on my back, so not quite the same thing. Anyhow, I can give you an idea of # of stitches, etc soon. They told me 2 weeks of no swimming because of the stitched. I don't believe that I will adhere to that (I know people will criticize that) as I intend to cover them with waterproof bandages. I will take a day or two off. I also don't plan to take any days off running/biking, but mine are on my back and not my leg. Even so, I don't think I'd take more than a day off for something like that. I've been through this before, and unless my memory is foggy, I don't remember it being a big deal at all.

From Clinical Advisor April 2019 "if an individual has 7 to 8 lesions, there is a 10% chance of malignant transformation of at least 1 lesion within 1 year"..