Bad news (skin cancer) over the phone?

[obsessedwithsleep]

Would the NHS do this?

I have been given telephone appointment very quickly after the mole was removed (2 weeks when i was told results would take 4).

Obviously this timescale doesn't fill me with confidence but it's a phone appointment so I wondered if they'd tell.me bad news over the phone?

I'm a bit freaked out! Thank you.

It is highly unlikely they would give you a cancer diagnosis over phone. They willring to tell you all is ok, or that further tests may be required.
Please try not to worry; I've been there!

Yes they might.

DH has regular squamous cell carcinomas & basal cell carcinomas and they have sometimes phoned with results to say that the biopsy has shown one or the other and they will book him in for removal. It’s quicker than them sending you a letter to attend for an appointment and then you attend an appointment only to be told that they need to remove it at a further appointment.

Sorry, I re read and see it was removed rather than just a biopsy. If it was removed and has been discussed that it’s a possibility of being cancerous then yes, they may give results over the phone. DH has also been phoned after removal and told they didn’t have clear margins so needed to remove a little more.

I've recently had another biopsy and told if its ok it will be by letter but if I need to be seen, then they will phone me to book me in.

I have history with skin cancer though.

My DM had a telephone call telling her it was a melanoma an appointment to remove it was given immediately. It must have been a very difficult phone call as she was in her late 70s and deaf.

I was told over the phone that I had Cervical Cancer.
I had a biopsy and was told I'd get the results in around 8 weeks, this was on a Monday. On the Wednesday I got a call from the Doctor who just said you have CC.
I was out for lunch with friends and just burst into tears, the Doctor didn't even ask if I was OK to speak, I'm still annoyed about it now.

I had a lump removed after investigation and was told that I would have a phone appointment if all was ok to discharge me or a face to face appointment if I needed further investigation.
sending positive wishes for you, I know the waiting is hard but I’m sure it’ll all be ok!

My friends husband had a phone call to tell him his cancer was terminal and there was nothing more they could do but this was in the height of covid, still can't believe he had to hear that over the phone!

I'd say it's more likely to be bad news if they need to speak to you over the phone

It's usually letters or non urgent methods of communication for good results

My husband had a mole removed that was cancerous. He was phoned the night before and asked to attend the hospital the next day and he was told then. I was allowed in with him so we knew the news wasn't going to be good.

Thanks for replying everyone. It seems I can't really make any assumptions but grateful for your replies

Hi op, I hope everything goes well. Try not to stress too much. I have had a few BCC and that is most common. All were removed and that was a straight forward process in day care. It is scary but most skin cancers are not invasive if caught early, and are incredibly common and treatable. I have one scar on my face which is noticeable without makeup about 3cm long , but most people don’t even notice and that was long because they took multiple lesions that were clustered together out at same time to be on safe side. The other one left hardly any scar at all - you’d need a magnifying glass to see it.
The irony for me is that I have never liked being in the sun, have had to take high doses of vit D cos I don’t get enough sun yet still got enough damage to cells on my face at some point to get skin cancer. It’s just very common especially as you age.
”getting cancer” sounds really scary- but in practice for things like BCC it isn’t a big deal and it most certainly isn’t a risk to your life.

good luck

I hope all is ok but my friend was told she had breast cancer over the phone.

I'm also waiting on results. Try not to catastrophise if you can. First of all it might just be dysplastic, but they want to remove a bit more just to be safe. Second the vast majority of skin cancers are caught early enough to be treatable relatively easily. I know it's scary (I've had lots of biopsies) but you will get through this.

It's more often than not bad news if done over the phone unfortunately

That's so shocking and you would thought that would never happen. So sorry that happened to you and hope you're ok now.

How awful!! Are you still undergoing treatment?

I was told in March I had/ have 'incidental' cancer in my throat, neck, lymph nodes and thyroid by phone.
When I saw the consultant the same week the nurse (in a major London hospital) bollocked a man loudly who was moaning how long the clinic was running over ' we are telling people they have cancer here, it's not a two minute thing!'
So I was left with no illusion.
Had surgery within two weeks and am due to have surgery again in ten days for bowel tumour.
Then radiation treatment.

I hope its good news for you OP.
I had a mole removed and was told to expect a phone call with the results of the biopsy.
A face to face appt was arranged instead to give me the results, which turned out to be melanoma.

@AlwaysAuntie so sorry, I just saw this today.
I was diagnosed in January, I finished treatment on 28th July - I'm stage 3C2 - so I've had CarboTaxol 3 weekly for 5 weeks, then Radiotherapy daily for 6 weeks with Cisplatin Chemo once a week, I also had the delight that is Brachytherapy twice.
I've got a follow up appointment at the end of September and keeping everything crossed until then.
I hope everyone on this thread is well and if you're undergoing treatment it isn't too bad ❤️❤️

If it’s BCC then I wouldn’t worry. It’s something like 96% likely to be cured by excision.

My DM was told that there were 750 people waiting for BCC removal locally so they had decided to “no longer classify BCC as cancer” ie there was no need to treat it urgently.

A ridiculous but hopefully reassuring tale!

My gp phoned and told me, don’t panic but you are going to get a letter telling you you have skin cancer (BCC.) It turned out not to be btw although it was worrying at the time.

Something like a squamous cell or basal carcinoma then possibly… they are cancerous but not treated quite the same way. Something like a malignant melanoma then I would think it would be a f2f appt. The hospital where I work would do that most likely.

Not cancer or anything close, but I was told I had osteopenia by text message, with no follow-up. They did include a URL for the Royal Osteoporosis Society, so I was able to call their helpline and talk with a lovely nurse who explained what it meant for me and what I needed to do, but I thought it was a bit… offhand.

I was advised I had osteoparosis by my consultant getting out of the lift as I was leaving hospital after breaking my back. He buggared off telling me my GP would sort treatment out.