I thought I would share my little experience about this.
I had a lump removed in July, a lump that I'd had for many years on my upper thigh and had been told was a benign cyst by my GP. I was told that it would need to be removed but there was no hurry as it was just a cyst. Because I'm scared of needles and hospitals I left it where it was. This was a big mistake!
At the beginning of this year, I kept experiencing pains in my leg around the lump, so I decided I needed to face my fear of needles and get it removed.
So I had it removed and I thought that was that. I saw the consultant and he said he'd only call me back if there was an issue, 7 weeks after the op in July I had a letter to go and see him again. Oh boy! I was told that the lump had been diagnosed as Dermatofibrosarcoma Protuberans, which is a low to intermediate malignant tumour, which is locall aggressive but very unlikely to spread beyond its current area.
I was advised that the suggested way of dealing with this type of tumour is to remove some more tissue from around the area to stop it from reoccurring. A week later I had a second op where the consultant removed a couple of centimeters from around the area down to the muscle layer. Ouch!
Three weeks after the 2nd op, I saw the consultant again. The tissue they removed indicated that there were some cancer cells in that tissue, so here I am facing a 3rd Operation. They are planning to take another couple of centimeters from the area and I will this time need a skin graft as the area removed will be too big to stitch together. My op is this coming week (wish me luck!).
I am scared as I really hate needles and hospitals but the thought of this tumour growing back because there's cancer cells sitting there waiting to grow fills me with more dread.
If anyone else has this type of tumour, I would dearly love to hear from you to share from your experience.
I am also here for anyone who is told they have this. Its supposed to be a rare cancer hence, I am here and will provide whatever support for those who have this. I will continue to post regarding my recovery so anyone who is goes through similar will have some form of reference as I have only found medical reference myself and would have appreciated a personal perspective.
Love and Light.
Rachel
x
