My mum has finally been diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma after refusing for THREE YEARS to do anything about it.
She has been told at her first consultant’s appointment today that she will need at least two operations to attempt to remove it all as it is in an awkward place on the top of her foot. She will also have to have a skin graft. The consultant also said with the position of the lesion they always get infected. Would this be an MRSA type infection?
I suppose my question is about metastases as it has been such a long time untreated. After three years & a very angry bleeding lesion, would you expect it to have spread?
I think she has greatly underestimated everything from what it is, to what will be done, to the after effects & longer term. How can I help her & support her? She is one of the most stubborn people I know & I’m worried all over again that she won’t take this seriously enough.
Thank you in advance
Hi SaraS and a very warm welcome to the online community which I hope you'll find is both an informative and supportive place to be.
I'm sorry to read that you mum has recently been diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and that she's likely to need a couple of operations to remove it as it's on the top of her foot.
Having a couple of excisions is not uncommon with BCC. Sometimes, when the excision biopsy is sent off to the pathology laboratories, it's discovered that clear margins haven't been achieved, ie there are still cancer cells right up to the edge, so the surgeon will go back and remove a larger area to make sure no cells have been left behind.
I can't help with what type of infection the consultant thinks your mum will get, maybe give him a call to talk this through again so you know what to look out for.
BCCs are the most common form of skin cancer but, as you'll see from this leaflet, they are almost always cured with surgery and rarely spread to other areas of the body.
I haven't had a BCC on my foot, so don't know how this will affect your mum's mobility, but she will be given instructions on how to care for the wound.
There are people in this group who have had lesions removed from their foot, so I'll keep an eye on your post and, if no one responds, I'll 'tag' a couple of people to see if they can pop on and share their experiences.
Does your mum have a date for her procedure yet?
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
