Bowen's disease diagnosis

JacsW 10 days ago

2 replies
39 subscribers
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Hello and thank you for giving me the space to talk about this.

I have a patch of red skin on my face which has been there about three years. Recently it started to get bigger, then a hard lump and lumpy edge appeared. I decided to go to The Mole Clinic thinking it was eczema or something. They took some derma scope images and sent them off and the diagnosis was Bowen's disease.

They gave me a referral to give to my GP and it took them 3 weeks to even log the letter on my file, four weeks to refer, I still haven't heard about this. In the meantime, the lump on the patch started to bleed and ulcerated. I called my GP and they didn't seem concerned at all. I went back to The Mole Clinic but the person I spoke to was unsure if they had a consultant who dealt with Bowen's disease on the face and did not fill me with confidence.

So I have an appointment with a private dermatologist on Thursday. It's very expensive but hopefully I can get it sorted. I hadn't realised until the other day that Bowen's disease is pre-malignant skin cancer, no one at the clinic or my GP explained that. I am very worried they got it wrong now as the patch has changed a lot in the past weeks. No one in my family seems concerned either, and my brother who lives in Australia minimised it by saying 'oh, everyone has it here.'

It's scary, I'm 63 and in pretty good health otherwise, but it's still worrying, especially on my face. I don't really know what to expect, I think that is the worst part.

Thanks for reading and good to virtually meet you.

Harlyn 9 days ago

Hi JacsW Sorry to read your post. I have had 2 basal cell cancers removed from my face, and I had them done privately. Sometimes gp's don't have enough knowledge of skin cancers. My friend had Bowens disease on her leg which was treated with Efudix cream which is what is used sometimes for Bowens disease and although it makes the condition worse for a short time, it really does clear it up. My husband had to use it on his face for keratosis which is another pre-cancerous conditon and he reacted to it brilliantly. All cleared up now and you can't see a scar nothing. Unfortunately I had to have plastic surgery on mine, but again they have healed fine now and can hardly see my scars. I think you are wise to have a private consultation with dermatologist to see what an expert thinks of your situation. This site is brilliant to talk with people in the same situation as you and I am sure someone will pick up who has had Bowens disease and contact you. I am 75, not a sun worshipper and always use sun cream, but it is also age related. Where do you live as sometimes the nhs has a long waiting time for skin cancer appointments too, which is what I found. \Please keep in touch and I wish you all the best at your appointment x

JacsW 3 days ago in reply to Harlyn

Thank you so much for responding, Harlyn.
I had my private consultation today, and the consultant was very knowledgeable. After looking at it and taking some notes, he told me he thought it was either Bowen's disease, or basal cell carcinoma. I will have a private biopsy on the 10th, and if it is BCC he will refer me to NHS for surgery. If it's Bowen;s disease he will give me the cream you mentioned.

That all sounds simple, except he told me the scar from surgery will be about 4 inches because of the potential scale of the lesion and the positioning. I'm not sure what the wait time is for NHS surgery, I live in Manchester.

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