Turns out my BCC is infiltrating - have to go back for wide margin excision

Hi BikePiglet

Completely understandable that you would be shocked by the news but it sounds like the medical team have a clear plan as to how to treat you. I'm glad that your initial scar is healing well at least but it must be frustrating that you didn't receive the news you wanted. I think it is always a concern when you have surgery on or around your face, I had surgery for an unrelated cancer where the scar went down to my hairline and my advice is don't be put off by how it looks initially. You will be given lots of information on how to look after the scar or you can ask for it beforehand for peace of mind. My scar massively improved with time if that is of any help. 

I'm waiting for my biopsy results and I am around if you want to talk more about this.

Thinking of you,

Kaspy

Thanks KaspianSce. I very much appreciate your kind reply :) x

I'm sorry to hear that you're still waiting for biopsy results :( How long have you been waiting? I hope the results are good.

Best,

BP x (and thank you)

BikePiglet, 
I am really sorry to hear that you have had this bad news, it is the result that none of us wants to hear. I don't have any personal experience of this but I have been doing a lot of research. Hopefully someone with experience will respond but for now, as far as I can tell, they basically remove your scar and the tissue around it so cosmetically, in your location, it should heal very much like your current scar, just a bit bigger. Have they said which margin has incomplete removal? It impacts chances of reoccurrence. You could also ask about Mohs surgery as I think this can reduce the amount of tissue they have to take and it has higher rates of complete removal.
You got through this once and you will do so again, but I'll be thinking of you.

Thanks . I appreciate your kind message :) 

They didn’t say which margin it is. TBH I didn’t think to ask, as it was just a phone call entirely out of the blue and nothing like this ever happens to me (lol... if you see what I mean!) The nurse said she’d asked for an urgent appointment but told me it could still be 4-6 weeks, and didn’t suggest that anything other than a new excision was on the table. I think that in a week or so I”ll try to ring and ask about the Mohs, as I’ve read about it on here in the past.

Many thanks again :) 

Hi BP - so sorry to hear you've had this news, especially after it seemed like it was all over. You've been so kind and supportive to others on the site.

My BCC is micronodular infiltrative with nerve invasion, and I've been referred to oncology for radiotherapy. Apparently not all types and locations are suitable for this treatment, so I may have to have a wide margin excision instead. Mine is right in the middle of my cheek, so will be rather noticeable.

I imagine your new scar will be longer but just as neat no-one will notice it once it's healed. I hope your referral comes through soon. Almost all of your BCC has gone, it's just to prevent it popping back in a few years. 

I know what you mean about not thinking to ask things. I was exactly the same when I was diagnosed by the dermatologist. I think I managed to stutter out one useless question, now I have a long list. 

What I have read says that if the infiltration is on the deep margin it is harder to remove by surgery. Hopefully that they have opted for surgery is a good indication that they think it can easily be removed. I am sorry you have to wait so long, I think I read someone on another thread saying that this sort of surgery is basically about stopping it from reoccurring rather than immediate threat. I have my excision biopsy less than two weeks after seeing the dermatologist, it has made me a bit concerned about how serious they think mine is so you would probably worry whatever. 

Since I can't sleep since my diagnosis I am off to read the medical text books on skin cancer I have found in my university online library. Not sleeping at least has the benefit that I can read in peace, with a 4 year old daughter there is little chance of that in the day!