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waiting timeline after the initial diagnosis

fradbut
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Hi,

I've recently been diagnosed with P16 squamous cell carcinoma, on the outside of my neck lymph gland, on the 23rd Jan, after a biopsy had been taken on the 11th Jan.

I had an MRI on the 26th Jan and I have a CT staging scan on the 3rd Feb.

The ENT consultant at Eastbourne DGH was very unhelpful in describing the procedure and timeline of the events prior to treatment.

He told me the cancer nurse would phone me on the same day as my diagnosis on the 23rd, but she didn't phone me.

I've tried phoning the ENT department secretaries for help but they don't answer their

phones and they only have an answerphone service, for which I've now left three messages.

In addition, I've contacted my doctor, which is only possible by email, and as yet I've had no help.

Please can you advise me on the timeline procedure, any information that will help me understand the process, and any sensible information regarding my type of cancer, without depending on Google, so I can get some understanding of my situation?

Best Wishes,

Piers.

  • Hi Piers, (fradbut)

     

    Thank you for getting in touch with us and welcome to our online community.  I hope you find it a welcoming and supportive environment.  My name is Adrienne and I’m one of the Cancer Information Nurses at Macmillan.

    I’m sorry to hear that you haven’t been able to contact any of your team regarding your diagnosis and what to expect going forward.

    It can take some time for all of the tests and investigations to be carried out and for all of the information to be gathered so your doctor can decide on the best treatment plan for you.  They will wait until they have all of the scan results and then discuss them at the multi-disciplinary team meeting (MDT).  At this meeting, they will look at a number of things, including:

    • The type and size of the cancer and whether it has spread
    • Your general health
    • National treatment guidelines for your type of cancer

    Once they have decided on the treatment plan, they will then discuss this with you.

    The waiting time targets are no more than 62 days (2 months) between the date the hospital received the initial urgent referral for suspected cancer and the start of treatment.  They also aim for no more than 31 days (1 month) between the meeting where you and your doctor discuss and agree to a treatment plan and actually starting treatment.

    If extra tests are needed to diagnose your cancer, this can sometimes take a bit longer but in general, these are the targets.

    You mention that you have been diagnosed with P16 squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) from a biopsy of one of the lymph nodes in your neck.  Squamous cells are cells that are found in the tissues that form the surface of the skin, the passages of the respiratory and digestive tracts and the lining of the hollow organs (like the bladder and kidney). 

    When the pathologist has your biopsy under the microscope, they will be determining the type of cancer cells present (SCC).  If they suspect the cancer is in the throat or mouth (oropharyngeal cancer), they will often test for the P16 protein to see if the HPV infection is present.  This helps the doctors predict the probable course of the cancer and enables them to decide on the best course of treatment.

    Your doctor or specialist nurse will be able to talk to you more specifically about your diagnosis and possible treatment options.  Hopefully, someone will get back to you as soon as possible to talk through what has happened so far but treatment will not be decided until all of the scan results are back.

    I hope that made sense but please know that you can call one of our nurses to talk this through further.

     

    Take care and best wishes,

     

    Adrienne

    (Cancer Information Nurse Specialist)

    You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or send us an email. 

    Ref: AM/AR

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