Chatty,
Essentially you watch for changes in a mole. If it becomes larger or noticeably smaller. If the edges become ragged or if it begins to stand out from your skin where it was previous flat against it. If it changes color or begins to itch or is painful or dry or changes in some other way, you should see your doctor. Also if a mole develops where you previously didn't have one, you might want to check with your doctor.
When you go in for a check up, your doctor should measure your moles and note the color and type that they are on your chart for future reference. As you age, you may develop nevi which are collected blood vessels that resemble moles and he may want to note those also just for comparison though they are rarely cancerous.
Melanoma is a pretty bad thing. I too come from a line of people that develop it. I make my doctor check me out annually. Of couse you have to be careful of unnecessary surgery also because you can have melanoma in a mole that is encapsulated and will not cause problems until it spreads as a result of surgery or you can catch it early and remove it. It's kind of a toss up.
smile

[ November 18, 2004, 09:35 PM: Message edited by: smilinize ]