Hi All,
First time posting here so I hope there may be someone able to share their own experience or advice with me. I'm not too sure how I'm feeling right now!
I've been to see a private consultant this morning who has advised I should have surgery to remove two possible basal cell carcinoma on my face and neck.
I've had both for about 18 months - 2 years which started like spots and than have never gone away. They are only small but flare up, bleed lots, then heal and look like scar type lumps the rest of the time.
GP has monitored for the last 6 months and finally recommended last week that they could be BCC and referred me to a dermatologist. I know the NHS have no appts at the moment so made a private appointment.
The consultant this morning said that although they do not cause immediate concern, but because they have been around for so long, it is likely they are BCC and would recommend getting them both removed. They are not obvious like many classic signs, but because of the timescales and my skin, hair, eyes, it's entirely possible that they are.
He did say that if I wanted to wait a while and see what happens that's entirely my choice, as if there's a cancer to have, it's this one 'the good cancer' that won't spread.
My concern is if I wait, they could become bigger and cause more scarring or damage in the future.
Has anyone else had a similar situation and what did you choose to do? I am leaning quite heavily towards the surgery as soon as possible, however they could be something and nothing.
I am relieved that they are nothing more sinister however not sure how I'm feeling about it all right now! A little shocked but reassured by the consultants comments not to lose sleep over it. It's still surgery on my face at the end of the day which is not pleasant to think about.
Thank you
Kind regards
Hi and a very warm welcome to the online community
I'm sorry to hear that you've recently been diagnosed with two possible BCCs. As your consultant has rightly said, BCCs are usually slow growing and very rarely spread so there isn't usually the same urgency to remove them as there is with other types of skin cancer. However, if they're not removed they will continue to grow and could form an ulcer, hence their old-fashioned name of 'rodent ulcers'.
It's always difficult when the decision to have treatment sooner rather than later is given to us to decide on and the only advice I would give is to go with your gut feeling.
Do come back and let us know what you decide to do.
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
Hi
I noticed that no one from the group has stepped forward to tell you about their experiences with surgery and scars so it might be an idea to start a new post asking about that.
There are lots of people in the group who have had this operation so another idea would be to use the search bar in the group to look for previous posts on this topic.
I presume that you're having this done privately, as you've mentioned costs, and most people in the group will have had their operation on the NHS. However, as usually the private surgeons also have a NHS practice there isn't likely to be any difference in the procedures and outcomes.
Do come back and let us know how you get on.
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
All the best for Thursday and do come back and let me know how you get on.
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
Hi
Just checking in with you to see how your operation went. I'm hoping it wasn't as bad as you feared and that you're not feeling too sore.
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
