I took my 7-year-old daughter in to see my dermatologist just for a routine skin check. She'd never been to a dermatologist before, but because she has a few moles, I thought it would be a good idea to have a baseline established in case any of her moles start to change as she gets older.
Well, little did I know the shock I was in for....
It turned out that the doctor removed a mole on her scalp that was a little scary looking. It was about the size of a pencil eraser with jagged edges and uneven shading. A few days later, the biopsy showed that it would have turned into melanoma -- it was just a matter of time. It was a dysplastic nevus with atypical cells. What really freaked me out was the fact that this mole had never seen the light of day -- it was well hidden under her hair, and I'd always associated melanoma with being in the sun too much.
Now, I have to be careful about keeping an eye on my daughter's moles, and I'll definitely be combing through her scalp every once in a while. She'll need to see a dermatologist at least once a year for a complete check and mole measurement for the rest of her life.