BCC Treatment Choices Driving Me Crazy

Hi Looby

Sorry you are going through this. It is rough when it is on your face. One of the things I would consider in your position when weighing up your treatment options is how successful the treatment is likely to be in completely removing the bcc. Some treatments have a higher chance of it coming back in the same place with the potential to cause more scarring if you have to have more treatment. 
I had surgery for scc on my cheek 8 weeks ago so have had to deal with the disfigurement side of things. My scc was a little bigger than yours at about 8 - 10 mm and I am left with a linear scar about 2.5 cm long. I am quite surprised at how good it looks now - when they first took the dressing off it looked like one of those stick on Halloween fake make up things! I took a photograph of my face every day for the first 6 weeks (no one sees them except me!) and if I am feeling down I flick through them to see how much progress there has been in a short space of time. I saw my consultant last week who said it will improve further over the next couple of months.
I found searching on social media eg Instagram for people who are brave enough to show their scars helpful. I can see what they look like further down the line from me. 
I try to tell myself that as we go through life, we accumulate scars. The arrangement of my features have not changed - they are just as pleasing or not as they ever were - I just now have a scar. My friends tell me that it is not noticeable - I have no idea whether they are being kind or not. One thing I do know is that I have spent far more time than is healthy staring at my own face over the last couple of months!
I start back at work next week (I am a teacher) and I know I will have so much to think about that hopefully it will squish the last couple of months out of my head! 
Sorry for rambling on - I hope you can find a way to gain some perspective. I still have bad days but I’m getting there.

Hi

I was just wondering how you were and if you'd met with the team of consultants yet?

x

Hi Looby

Sorry you’re feeling so upset about the different treatments etc..

i would just like to say that I had a BCC removed from the side of my nose a year ago last week. The incision on my face was all the way under my eye and down my cheek ! Pretty awful to be honest and I too struggled dreadfully with it at first and cried every day..

However a year on and unless you knew the scar was there it is practically invisible now.. Wish I could send you pics...

Try not to worry too much as these things do have a habit of turning out pretty well in the end

Sending you positive vibes.. Stay strong xx

I've been recently diagnosed with a BCC on my cheek and am making myself ill worrying about the possible surgery. It is good of you to share your experiences, so pleased to hear that you have a positive outlook and are on the other side of all this. My appointment is next week, just want to get it all over with! 

Hi Didi60

I just want to try and reassure you and others on here that with time the scars on your face do heal ..

The surgery itself is pretty intense I won’t lie but it is tolerable and the surgeon and nurses are fantastic at putting you at ease and being lovely and calm throughout.

If you knew me and my absolute fear of hospitals then you would really believe me when I say if I can do it then anyone can !

i was awake all through the operation and once the local anaesthetic is in then you will be fine .. it stings but only briefly.

 Please try not to worry too much and please let me how you are after surgery  It will be nice to hear to hear your experience and I’m sure you will be saying “Why did I worry so much “

Take care and all the best for next week

Sending hugs 

Julie x

Hi Julie - thanks for your reassuring words, I have managed to get myself into quite a state, it is so comforting to hear from someone who has been through this! My appointment next week is my first consultant referral, so just an assessment and discussion of treatment. I've always had a tendency to think the worst, so I think I'll feel better when I know what's going to happen. I must, must, must stop Googling frightening things about it, really not helping!

Hi Didi60

I too got myself in a state and yes I googled images !

With hindsight the worst thing in the world to do .. but we’re all human aren’t we and can’t help up ourselves :)

If you want to message me when you’ve been to your appointment and got more info then please feel free and I will try and put you at ease if I can.

Just have to say hun that when the young doctor said she definitely thought it was skin cancer I had a full on meltdown and burst into tears !

Think the poor woman thought she had some kind of nut on her hands. She promptly fetched my partner and left him to it Lol

You are not alone in being worried..

Take care and hope to catch you soon 

Julie xx

Thanks so much for your kind words! I had my appointment today, confirmed a nodular BCC on my left cheek, another suspected small one on my eyebrow (which I've had for years!) and a patch of solar keratosis on my other cheek. He's recommended radiation therapy for the main  one, after having biopsies on them both. I'm feeling pathetically sorry for myself, just a weepy mess, which is so silly as he said they were all quite small, and he was more concerned with the cosmetic outcome than anything serious, which is why he recommended radiation therapy. I wish I had recorded the consultation as I can hardly remember what he said! He was really lovely, looked at various other spots and blemishes on my skin land reassured me they were nothing to worry about. Must have thought I was bonkers ! Next step is the biopsies, and staying well away from Doctor Google! So good to hear that you had a positive outcome, hopefully that will be me in a few months!

Thanks again xxx

Hi Didi60, I was diagnosed with 2 BCC ‘s one nodular  on my nostril , the other one A different kind on the other side of my nose, both  only small at  about 2mm about 18 months ago. I had a biopsy on both and you honestly couldn’t see any scar after this at all. It healed brilliantly. On my next consultation the dermatologist suggested using a cream to burn the cells on one side but on nostril suggested MOHS surgery. I used the cream as directed and though initially the skin was red and sore, this soon healed and the small BCC seems to have disappeared, hopefully for good.  But  on The nostril she suggested MOHS surgery.This went ahead a year ago and I can’t I’m afraid give any positive Experiences of it . I dont know if I was just unlucky . I was sent to what is one of the top hospitals for MOHS and reconstructive surgery so I wasn’t too anxious . The consultant said the surgery would be done one one day and then reconstruction the next and made it sound as though you wouldn’t even notice it had been done after the surgery. The MOHS went well, was all done in a few hours . My problems have been since,  with my reconstruction,  and now if I had my time again I would have definatly asked my dermatologist if I could give the cream a try on my nodular BCC to avoid all I’ve been through with the reconstruction. What was a tiny hardly visible 2mm spot on my nostril has left me with a 4/5mm thick wide bulge Of skin called a pin cushion scar along the length of my nose, with no visible curve to my nostril left anymore. I found it unslightly and Quite disfiguring. I had a flap surgery not a skin graft as this way they said it would be far less noticeable . Not true I, afraid 
At my my follow up consultation They suggested massaging it to Break down what they ‘thought’ was a fatty lump under the skin but 6 weeks later and it was no different. I was supposed to go back in for a revised reconstruction to open it up and remove the fat in February this year but with Covid this was delayed. By September this lump had reduced slightly. I still hated my nose, as I had no nostril curve, so when they gave me a new date for surgery in October I was overjoyed.
and the surgeon assured me they could make a difference , though maybe only marginal. 
Well, I had the surgery, quite a daunting procedure in full theatre, a lot of doctors and nurses in the room , and was so excited to see my new nose when I went back in 7 days later to get the dressing off. I find it strange they don’t show you the results and the consultant wasnt even there to show you or discuss your scar etc. It was just taken off, nose wiped and was told,I could go home! It wasn’t until I got in my car and looked in the mirror I saw to my horror that I had yet another large pin cushion bulge , now further down the nose and wider, still covering my entire nostril. I cried all the way home, having to drive myself and was literally shaking when my husband met me at the door. 
I feel like I’ve gone 1 step forward and 2 steps back! Now I have to go though the whole routine again of massaging it and hoping it will subside but it could take another year if I’m lucky. I feel let down, ugly and quite depressed At times . I am of course hugely relieved and grateful that the cancer has gone but I wish that I’d first chased all the other options before opting for surgery and that’s what I’d suggest to anyone as I’d only have it again as a last resort. 
Being NHS I know you can’t choose a surgeon by reputation etc but please ask questions, and fully research everything you can as it is quite a drastic procedure to go through. I’m not posting this to be negative, but to just say, ask questions, dont do as I did and just go along with everything meekly, as they have a lot of patients to see and I did feel rushed at each appointment and always came out having not had answers to my questions and wishing I’d asked more. Feel listened too, feel like you are fully Informed and also get all the possible treatment plans explained to you before you decide what is best for you. Good luck 

Hi - so sorry you've been through such a difficult time with your surgery. The good thing is the cancer is gone, but I know how difficult it can be when you have facial scars. I've got several on my face from an accident, and used to be convinced everyone was staring at them, but over the years they have improved and I honestly think they aren't as noticeable as I think they are when I sit staring at them in a magnifying mirror! When I look at photos of myself I'm always surprised that you can't really notice them.

My consultant recommended radiation therapy because of the improved cosmetic outcome, as mine is 4mm and would require a large excision. To be honest I just want it gone and sitting in a test tube somewhere (that will teach it to burrow into my face!). My extensive and frankly terrifying research on the net has shown me that 'skin cancer' is almost infinitely complicated and varied, and a treatment that might work for one case may well be less effective for another. I didn't trust my GPs opinion, he prescribed Alvira, so went private to a consultant, and he said that my kind wouldn't respond well to Alvira. As he's a specialist I'm more inclined to trust his opinion! 

I've become slightly obsessed about looking at people's faces for lumps, bumps and scars, and am surprised at how many truly beautiful people have what might be called blemishes or scars on their faces. I'm hoping that my future new scars won't be too noticble, and I'm sure yours will improve gradually with time.  Take care x