A support group has been formed for the few hundred people in the United States believed to have giant moles. The Nevus Network based in Lake Ridge, Va., dispenses information and puts the afflicted in touch with one another. Bari Bett, one of the group's founders, says life becomes a challenge because so few know about the condition. Even doctors who diagnose it often haven't seen such a case before, she says, and parents often are bombarded with many questions but few answers. Miss Eppes celebrated her first birthday in an operating room.
Doctors have several ways of removing the birthmark.
The mole can be removed directly, with the wound edges sewn together. Or a doctor can graft skin from another part of the body. Weeks later, a piece of the mole is cut off and the skin stretched to cover it. Miss Eppes had to miss school for weeks at a time while she underwent surgery at a hospital and recovery at home. The county school district sent a teacher to her home for a few hours each day so she could keep up academically.