By the time I get in anywhere, if it's malignant it'll be metastasized beyond treatability - and if it's benign, I will have wasted a lot of time and frustration for nothing.
There are at least two other possibilities: 1) It's a pre-cancerous lesion and can be successfully removed any time in the near future, but could become dangerous in the far future. Which makes three weeks to a month just fine as far as timing goes.
2)It's a slow-growing cancer which can be treated completely successfully within the near future, but shouldn't be left indefinitely. This also makes three weeks to a month just fine.
If you're really worried, go to a hospital walk-in center. Tell them you don't have a primary care doctor and are very worried about the changes in the mole. They may or may not remove it on the spot, but they at least will let you know how urgent, or not, removing it is.
Situations like this are why it's worth the effort to find a regular doctor. Yes, it's not likely that the first doctor you try will suit you, or even that the first few will suit you. Doctors are humans too, with their own personalities as well as skills and interests. It's not realistic to paint them all with the same brush, and that's a good thing because the doctor who's perfect for you might not work out for someone else at all, and might drive yet another person straight up the wall.
It's worth the effort to keep looking. It took me many years to find my first primary care doctor. I had initial appointments with at least six different gynecologists when I decided to change my GYN specialist. In both cases I ended up with doctors with whom I shared wonderful working relationships and mutual respect, as I do with my current physician.
What I usually suggest to people who are looking for a new primary care doctor is to start a list of things that are important to you in a doctor. Keep it handy and edit it as often as ideas occur to you. When you think it's a pretty good description of what you need, share it with friends, and ask if they know of a doctor who comes close. When you get a recommendation that seems worth looking into, schedule a routine inital visit. It will probably be two to three months into the future, at least. It's going to be a longer-than-usual appointment, as first visits always are, and most practices only have a small number of spots each week for this kind of visit.
Some people recommend telling the doctor outright that you're conducting a search for a new doctor, and may or may not continue to see him/her. I say play that by ear. Sometimes it works better just to go through the visit as though you're going to be a permanent patient. If you have any concerns about the interaction, though, bring them up as they happen. How the doctor responds will tell you a lot about how it would be to work with that person on other issues. When it comes time to leave, if you aren't sure you want to return, just don't make another appointment. If asked to do so, just say you'll get back to them.
If you decide not to return, and if you feel comfortable doing it, writing the doctor a letter explaining briefly and as nicely as possible why you aren't going to schedule a follow-up can be helpful to the doctor. Often, people just disappear after seeing a doctor, leaving the doctor wondering what went wrong. And they do wonder, and care, about that.
When you have your first visit with the next potential doctor, it's not necessary to include doctors you've seen only once in your list of prior physicians unless they turned up something the new doctor needs to know.
This may seem like a lot of trouble to go to, and it is. But having a doctor who knows you and with whom you're comfortable saying anything at all is important enough to make the effort.
Good luck with the mole. Please don't cancel that appointment!
no subject
There are at least two other possibilities:
1) It's a pre-cancerous lesion and can be successfully removed any time in the near future, but could become dangerous in the far future. Which makes three weeks to a month just fine as far as timing goes.
2)It's a slow-growing cancer which can be treated completely successfully within the near future, but shouldn't be left indefinitely. This also makes three weeks to a month just fine.
If you're really worried, go to a hospital walk-in center. Tell them you don't have a primary care doctor and are very worried about the changes in the mole. They may or may not remove it on the spot, but they at least will let you know how urgent, or not, removing it is.
Situations like this are why it's worth the effort to find a regular doctor. Yes, it's not likely that the first doctor you try will suit you, or even that the first few will suit you. Doctors are humans too, with their own personalities as well as skills and interests. It's not realistic to paint them all with the same brush, and that's a good thing because the doctor who's perfect for you might not work out for someone else at all, and might drive yet another person straight up the wall.
It's worth the effort to keep looking. It took me many years to find my first primary care doctor. I had initial appointments with at least six different gynecologists when I decided to change my GYN specialist. In both cases I ended up with doctors with whom I shared wonderful working relationships and mutual respect, as I do with my current physician.
What I usually suggest to people who are looking for a new primary care doctor is to start a list of things that are important to you in a doctor. Keep it handy and edit it as often as ideas occur to you. When you think it's a pretty good description of what you need, share it with friends, and ask if they know of a doctor who comes close. When you get a recommendation that seems worth looking into, schedule a routine inital visit. It will probably be two to three months into the future, at least. It's going to be a longer-than-usual appointment, as first visits always are, and most practices only have a small number of spots each week for this kind of visit.
Some people recommend telling the doctor outright that you're conducting a search for a new doctor, and may or may not continue to see him/her. I say play that by ear. Sometimes it works better just to go through the visit as though you're going to be a permanent patient. If you have any concerns about the interaction, though, bring them up as they happen. How the doctor responds will tell you a lot about how it would be to work with that person on other issues. When it comes time to leave, if you aren't sure you want to return, just don't make another appointment. If asked to do so, just say you'll get back to them.
If you decide not to return, and if you feel comfortable doing it, writing the doctor a letter explaining briefly and as nicely as possible why you aren't going to schedule a follow-up can be helpful to the doctor. Often, people just disappear after seeing a doctor, leaving the doctor wondering what went wrong. And they do wonder, and care, about that.
When you have your first visit with the next potential doctor, it's not necessary to include doctors you've seen only once in your list of prior physicians unless they turned up something the new doctor needs to know.
This may seem like a lot of trouble to go to, and it is. But having a doctor who knows you and with whom you're comfortable saying anything at all is important enough to make the effort.
Good luck with the mole. Please don't cancel that appointment!