Skin cancer diagnosis

Thank you for getting in touch and welcome to our online community.

My name is Joanne and I’m one of the Cancer Information Nurses on the Macmillan Support Line.

I can see that you’ve joined our Cancer chat forum and wondered if it may be useful for you to also have a look at our Skin cancer forum where you can share experiences with other people.

I’m sorry to hear that you are having such a difficult time at the minute. A cancer diagnosis is never easy to deal with and living with uncertainty when you are waiting for a treatment plan, or for treatment to start can be very challenging. A lack of control over what is happening is often a significant issue when things are unclear.

It’s not unusual to experience a whole range of emotions within a very short space of time and these can include irritability and frustration with family and friends. It’s important that you don’t feel guilty about your emotions during this very difficult, uncertain time and it can be useful for you and your husband to have a chat about how he can support you whilst you are navigating your way through the challenges.

If you are feeling very overwhelmed, it’s ok to take time out in your bedroom but it’s also important that you make sure you’re looking after yourself by trying to eat well and do some gentle exercise. Sometimes it can be useful to set some very small goals for yourself each day, such as getting out of the house for a short walk, or a coffee.

I’m glad to hear that you now have an appointment to speak to a consultant face to face. Hopefully when you can do that, the plan for your treatment will become clearer. It might be helpful to plan for your appointment by looking at these questions to ask your healthcare team .

I’ve included some information on treatment for skin cancer including radiotherapy. and surgery . There are a number of different approaches that a surgeon may use when operating on a skin cancer and these will depend on the location of the cancer, as well as the size of the area and the depth.

When you have your appointment, the consultant will explain what the surgery involves and how the skin graft will be done. You can ask your consultant to write down the information they are giving you and this will help you to process it after your appointment.

As well as the consultant, you may also meet a skin cancer nurse specialist who will be part of the team looking after you throughout your treatment and who can provide information and answers to some of the questions you will have.

You can also keep in touch with us here at Macmillan and if you think it would be helpful to talk things through in more detail, please do pick up the phone and give us a call.

I hope this information has been useful and that your appointment in Edinburgh goes well and gives you and your husband some answers and certainty about what is happening next.

Ref JH/GMcR