Hello everybody,
I wanted to share my BCC experience here, whilst on holiday in Thailand back in December 2019 I noticed a small speck of blood on the right side of my nose towards the right of the tip. This disappeared and I didn't see it again until February this year when an ulcer opened up in the same area around 17mm x 10mm. My GP referred me straight away and I waited 2 to 3 weeks for my appointment with the dermatologist, after an initial examination I was told it was unlikely to be skin cancer however I was asked to return for a precautionary biopsy. A couple of weeks later I received a letter with the results confirming an infiltrative BCC and that I would be referred for Mohs Surgery, eventually I received my surgery date which turned out to be a six month wait.
There was very little information within the letter and I had to call to ask what to expect that day as I had not spoken to anyone since the biopsy. I ended up Googling and was stunned when I saw some of the reconstruction procedures, many people with my diagnosis end up with a forehead flap which can be a lengthy recovery and would have meant no driving, no glasses, no work. I couldn't believe it. So yesterday the date at the hospital arrived and by 8.15 my mohs surgery had commenced, as with the biopsy the worst part was the needles in the nose used to numb the area after this I had 30 minutes of surgery and the removed tissues where sent for testing, one hour later I was brought back in for part 2, however to my relief my surgeon confirmed I had clear margins. Now that was a nice surprise! Due to the sub type being infiltrative I was expecting to be in and out of surgery all day. I was left with a 20mm x 17mm hole in my nose and was then given my options for wound closure which would either be a skin flap from my nose or secondary intention healing, so yet again a huge relief to avoid the more intensive procedures. I opted for secondary intention healing and my surgeon was confident the result would be good and avoid additional scaring to other parts of my face.
When I returned from the hospital I experienced a lot of bleeding so spent most of the day applying pressure to the area and thankfully today it seems to have slowed down so now I wait 5 days and then return to hospital for a dressing change and in 6 weeks I should be almost back to normal. So after frightening myself scrolling through Google it all turned out to be fine in the end.
Hi Lady Nose Best and a very warm welcome to the online community which I hope you'll find is both an informative and supportive place to be.
Thanks very much for taking the time to share your experiences of being diagnosed with BCC and I'm glad to read that everything is going well.
When you have a minute, it would be great if you could pop something about your diagnosis and treatment so far into your profile as it really helps others when replying to you and also when looking for someone on a similar pathway. It also means that you don't have to keep repeating yourself. To do this click on your username and then select 'Profile'. You can amend it at any time and if you're not sure what to write you can take a look at mine by clicking on my username.
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"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
