I saw my GP last week about a lesion on my face that was not healing- I noticed its arrival at the start of July. He said don't worry he was certain it was nothing sinister but referred me to dermatologist under TWR. I saw the consultant on Friday who said it was BCC. Removal was done later that day and the very cheery doctor told me that it was BCC, very common, caught early and was now gone. We just need to wait for results. I was told the wait was 6 to 8 weeks. That feels like a long time- is this normal?
I now find myself reeling from everything. I am anxious about the results, I am anxious about the sun- as a child and teen I did my skin no favours- too many sunburns I guess back in the 70s. Since then I have always been very skin aware sunscreen and covered up but now I feel very afraid. I have cancelled going camping with friends this weekend because of the sunny weather- that made me sad. I still have a healing scar on my face too so probably best indoors. I am trying to be kind to myself but I am emotional and teary. It is hard talking to people about it. My husband heard 'its gone now' from the doctor and so he just keeps saying I will be fine. I don't feel fine.
Hi and a warm welcome to the online community
I'm sorry to hear that you've recently had to have surgery to remove a BCC. You are very lucky to have had the surgery so quickly as the normal wait for removal can be several months. This is because, as you'll see from this information about BCCs, they rarely spread to other parts of the body, are usually cured with simple surgery and are almost never a danger to life. Only ones that have been left for a very long time or are in an awkward place pose any real problems.
Because of this, unfortunately, the results can take a long time to get back to the consultants as the pathology labs will have lots of higher priority potential cancers to look at. Please don't take this to mean that your skin cancer results aren't important, as they are, but hopefully this will reassure you that the wait is perfectly normal.
It's perfectly natural to now be worried about staying out of the sun and I can completely understand how you feel having been diagnosed with malignant melanoma nearly 3 years ago. It is important to be careful in the sun as, having had one BCC, you are more susceptible to having more, but you just need to be sun smart rather than avoid it altogether and the following is what I was recommended to follow:
The first summer after I was diagnosed was particularly hard as I used to enjoy sitting in the sun. However, I quickly got used to the new regime and have a selection of hats to choose from when I go out. I also decided that I now needed a whole new wardrobe so went on a shopping spree. So, every cloud has a silver lining!
I leave a hat permanently in the car so if I forget to take one with me I know I'll have one. Leaving a tube of sunscreen in the glove compartment is a good idea too.
If you want to ask anything else please do come back.
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
