Hi. I was diagnosed with bcc on my shin a few months ago and they removed a huge alien looking thing from my shin. A couple of years ago I went to see a doctor because I had a black mole on my leg and a couple of reddish patches on my legs. I spent years using creams and lotions to get rid of but nothing worked so I asked the doctor about them and he took a scraping from it. So nearly 3 years later I received an appointment letter for plastic surgery. I had absolutely no idea why I’d be going there and thought it was some kind of mistake. Anyway I went myself and he informed me I have skin cancer and would need surgery. I was a bit taken aback because it was such a long time since the scraping. Obviously I told my family who gave words of support however when I was to go for surgery not one of them said they’d take me. I couldn’t drive after surgery but I was really shocked by how my family handled the news. It was like let’s not talk about it and so it wouldn’t be real. My partner, who lives on the other side of the country came with me to the hospital and has been a god send tbh. I just don’t understand my family’s reaction to this. It’s been an eye opener for sure. I still have another bcc to be removed from my other shin so for me the diagnosis continues. Basically I’m going through this on my own. I don’t know if it’s life threatening or not. I know I have another few patches that’ll need biopsies. When I think about it all, I just think how long will this go on as in my lifetime? How long do I go on getting surgical treatment. Will there be a point when I say enough is enough. I have so many questions I really don’t know where to start. Anyone else have similarities to me?
Hi Rangers1 and a very warm welcome to our corner of the online community which I hope you'll find is both an informative and supportive place to be.
I have had two BCCs and a melanoma removed along with other lesions which, fortunately, turned out to be non-cancerous.
Like your partner supported you, I was lucky that I had the support of my husband. I think that sometimes friends and family don't know how to react to a cancer diagnosis and sometimes they find that the only way they can deal with it is to pretend it's not happening. Lots of people comment that it's at times like these when we find out where our real support comes from.
I hope you don't have years of having lesions removed but you sound like the sort of person who can deal with anything that is thrown at you.
It would be great if you could put something about your diagnosis and treatment into your profile as it really helps others when replying to you and also when looking for someone on a similar pathway. It also means that you don't have to keep repeating yourself. To do this click on your username and then select 'Profile'. You can amend it at any time and if you're not sure what to write you can take a look at mine by clicking on my username.
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
