I was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of my finger by biopsy in October 2023. It has only been treated using cryotherapy once by a Consultant then a further five times by a nurse practitioners in a nurse led unit over the next 10 months. It seems to have made things worse, not better. The SCC started less than 1cm, not painful or red. The SCC is now 3 cms x 3 cms red, ugly and painful. Another consultant reviewed it in October and repeated a biopsy (I have no idea why), which unsurprisingly confirmed SCC and after waiting 8 weeks for the result, only then referred me for urgent plastic surgery. I am still waiting to hear when that will be.
Has anybody else had to wait over a 14 months for surgery after a diagnosis of SCC. I have received no treatment since the last cryotherapy in August. Is it normal to wait so long? Any suggestions what I should do to expedite surgery? I have a feeling this stage 1 cancer is now down to the bone and could be stage 4 judging by the size and the pain. I feel very alone as I have been shut down by all the nurses when I raised concerns about the lack of improvement when they were performing cryotherapy. One told me it could take up to seven sessions, which I found surprising as my finger showed no signs of improvement. They just keep going despite it getting larger and increasingly painful. I said nothing because I thought they knew what they were doing, now I feel annoyed at myself for not kicking up a fuss.
I am not elderly,I am still working and in excellent health, apart from my SCC. I think the surgery may cause permanent deformity and damage my hand function as it won’t be an easy fix at this stage. Worse still, it may have metastasised. Any help or advice gratefully received.
Seapirit44, thank you so much for your reply! 
Who are PALS?
I asked to see a GP this morning with a view to going private. He was a locum and I find it hard to believe he’s qualified, I hope they check his degree. He was so bizarre. I told him my timeline and I said how worried I was and could he refer me for private plastic surgery and he looked like he wanted to run out the room. He said, give the name of who you want. I said, I thought that was his area of expertise, I don’t know any plastic surgeons. He then said I should go through my insurance, I said I’ve not got private insurance but I will pay for the treatment. That totally flumaxed him and he suggested I go away, do my own research then come back when I’ve decided which doctor I want and he’ll do the referral. Is that normal? Good news is I phoned the Plastic Surgery nurse and she was the first competent person I’ve spoken to yet. She was an ex student of mine, so I’m delighted how well she’s turned out, a credit to my teaching (back in the day when I was a midwife). She said she’ll ensure I get seen as soon as possible by the NHS plastic surgeon, maybe next week! Hallelujah 
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