Infiltrative skin cancer

Hi Lovepilates and a very warm welcome to our corner of the online community.

I haven't had surgery for skin cancer on the tip of my nose so don't know how likely it is that the longer it's left the more surgery you'll need. However, most skin cancers are very slow growing.

It's natural to be worried and keep having your surgery dates cancelled certainly doesn't help sooth your anxiety. Do you have a contact number for the hospital that's performing the surgery? If so you could give them a call to see how soon you are likely to be seen. You could also give your local private hospitals a call to find out how soon they'd be able to see you, and how much it would cost, so you can weigh up whether going down the private route is something that you'd like to do.

Anne

Hi Anne 

Thankyou for your reply .After my consultation in August l was put on a fast track list of Four. Months because the surgeon said my type of bcc has indefined borders and is infiltrative and faster growing than others. The hospital admissions on the maxifacial department rang to say they needed to cancel in November gave me a date for Dec 15 then cancelled that on Tuesday Dec 9th2025. They said it was because other people have faster growing skin cancer than me. The advisor said l am on a  cancellation list ie can go at short notice  she was unable to confirm a date.

Should l ring back and ask ? I.am beside .myself my son has a learning disability and required alot of support earlier this  year and he broke my arm accidentally  this diagnosis came at a hugely stressful period of time but l  am really struggling to cope. Which is unlike me.

I don't really want to go anywhere else because l feel comfortable with their treatment plan and feel worse going anywhere  new

I am just panicking it will grow and become disfiguring. It is only small at the moment.l just feel powerless to do anything to get treatment. 

Thanks for your understanding. Other people don't understand.

It must be so disappointing to keep having your surgery cancelled. It happened to me a few years ago but only the once. I tried to feel better about it by thinking that someone worse off than me needed prioritizing.

I'm not sure if you have anything to gain by ringing again if you're already on their list for being able to take a cancellation but you could always give it a go.

((hugs))

Thankyou l don't think l can ring again. I will just wait and see what happens .I have been on the cancellation list since ce August but nothing has happened.

Hi sorry you are having to wait and have it cancelled. I went private with mine but it still took several months from my initial GP appointment. 

If it is some comfort, mine was infiltrative bcc and grew quickly on the surface so I was worried about the depth especially as the biopsy didn't get clear at the base. The surgeon took a little muscle and that was enough. When I was worried I was looking for some nice surprise stories and couldn't find any. So I was very surprised when mine was better than I had hoped. 

I hope you have had your surgery by now and are starting the recovery. If not I hope it goes well 

Hi Thankyou for your  message Alison N. I  have been really anxious over Christmas because l was not given a date l got in touch with PALS and they were helpful  so difficult waiting. Good news l have a date for  surgery  confirmed soon so l feel much better now. Fingers crossed will go ok  More anxious over waiting than anything else with the hospital saying my type is more aggressive.  Glad yours was better than expected Take care.

Glad you have a date now

Thankyou.I.am relieved 

Hi, Very recently I've been through exactly the same thing as you., I had surgery for an infiltrative BCC on my nose on Dec 9th followed by reconstructive forehead flap surgery on Dec 15th. I'm now awaiting the forehead flap separation on Jan 19th. Having been through the first two operations, I now realise how woefully under-prepared I was. I received next to no pre or post op counselling, and it has been a very difficult time. I would be happy to talk you through it, if you thought this might help? There are lots of things I wish I'd known in advance. I have found the help on this chat group invaluable, especially a post by Dearheart 4 years ago (a detailed account of tumour removal and forehead flap surgery). I hope I can help. Good luck.    

Hi  Thankyou for your  response. I am now post op thank goodness l am so relieved it all went well. The surgeon said it din't look much differemt from five months ago. Hopefully the excision has removed all the cancerous cells.Just didn't really ask about how to best look after the skin graft but have a leaflet. Has taken me a few days to relax but feel much better now not too painful. The donor site is small and just staying in and keeping warm. The worse part was waiting for treatment the staff were lovely. I hope l can reassure other people because l was a  not in a good place before treatment.