Skin cancer - how urgent?

[lilachouse]

Hello, DH went to doc about red raised lump near his eye which has since turned scabby. She sent pics to dermatology and they agreed it was an urgent referral…but appointment has come through for end Aug which seems a long way off. Also assume not much will be done at this appointment?

Am I being OTT or should we go privately. His dad died young of cancer but not skin cancer. Not sure where we would even go for high quality care, we don’t have health insurance.

any thoughts appreciated x

August isn't bad, our urgent list was 9 months so we went private, £250 f.or exam and cryotherapy. What part of the country are you in if you want recommendations

9 months is horrendous. We’re in Herefordshire so easy access to Cardiff, Shrewsbury, Bristol, Birmingham etc

Boots do a mole scanning service at 50 stores around the country for around £40 you get the results in a week. You could look into this. Check the Boots mole scanning website.

The private was about 3 weeks because they take on nhs patients. I'm in sw but dorset which is too far

Even Nuffield bristol dermatologist don't have anything until September

I was 2 weeks ,,,all was fine

Do a Boots test like a previous poster suggested. My son had something suspicious, went to a large Boots store who scanned it for £40 ish, on a Tuesday, he got the results on Thursday which looked suspicious showing the ABCDE. We immediately contacted a respected skin cancer specialist near us (Bath) who saw him after hours (7.30pm) a couple of days later and did a biopsy at that appointment. Then had to wait 3 weeks for results. Luckily he was fine. But it was all quick and the best we could have hoped for. If you need his name PM me.

From your physical description it sounds like, if its anything, either squamous cell carcinoma or basal cell carcinoma - both are low risk in terms of spreading, so August seems reasonable, there will them probably be another long wait if it needs removal - but the likelihood it will become life threatening is very low, so the dermatology departments prioritise melanoma, which generally has a different appearance but can be fast developing and high risk.

Thanks everyone for advice and insights, has helped put mind at rest a bit. I did not know Boots offer that service so that sounds like our first thing to do.

My raised red lump on my upper cheek was actinic keratosis which isn’t anything to worry about but does have to be treated. I was on the two week pathway into community dermatology service which was excellent. The doc was very reassuring, asked if I had any special occasions coming up because if so we would wait until afterwards to start treatment as it is disfiguring for a while. I didn’t so started same day.
It’s unlikely your husband’s lump is anything serious so the August appointment is probably fine. Tell him to wear factor 50 every time he leaves the house though.

Was that at your private hospital? That sounds cheaper than some

Private clinic but consultant highly recommended and worked/trained for the nhs.

Both DH and I were seen in less than a week on the NHS.

Tbh op I think if they thought it was life threatening you'd be in much sooner ,melanoma is the one to really be worried about the others are rarely life threatening and don't tend to spread ,so dont worry too much

if this is cancer, then this sounds like basal cell skin cancer, the least serious of them all, if you are going to get skin cancer, this is the one to get.
I suspect this is what they think it may be too, due to the August timeline. Is it like a scab and hasn't healed?
it doesn't really spread if so, it's contained & as far as I know it isn't life threatening.

Yes @MissyPants it has developed a scab on it and has been bleeding onto pillow so hopefully it’s a low level thing

Definitely sounds like Basal Cell , be reassured that he’s in the system and will be seen in August. As stated above of all the skin cancers this is the least serious. Once seen it will be treated quickly. BCC which I’ve been treated for previously is no longer an urgent referral where I live , my last referral took months.

End of August isn’t a 2 week cancer referral. It just sounds like a normal ish urgent referral. When I was referred, I was seen in 5 days from when I saw the GP and had surgery 3 weeks later. What he needs initially is dermascopy, either done by someone trained in it face to face or teledermascopy where they take photos with a dermascope. That allows them to examine the specific features of the lesion to determine if it’s likely cancer.

Fwiw, mine was exactly like you describe and it was nodular melanoma. I wouldn’t be happy with them putting it off so long as mine was very fast growing.

I had Melanoma and it took months from when I first rang the doctor to getting a diagnosis (was seen by a nurse within two week as was on the two week cancer pathway) luckily even though it was cancerous the only treatment I had was skin biopsies

August isn’t bad at all. I was referred and was told it was a 13 month wait! This was despite having the stupid scan (picture taken on an iPhone in a clinic) and it being suspected BCC. I complained twice through PALS and eventually got an appointment within a few weeks. The dermatologist consultant wasn’t interested and said it was a mole. I said I didn’t think it was. She said I had two options 1) leave it or 2) have it removed. I chose option two. Had it removed around three weeks later. It was BCC. They’d have happily had me waiting over a year and then discharged me with a BCC.
Be careful with the diagnosis and, if you’d like it removed, push for that.

That's reassuring to hear, it does sound like it's this type. My family member had it for years and finally went to the doctors about it.
It was removed and all was and is well.

Hi Lilachouse, I have just private messaged you with a good doctor if he's needed. Sorry for slow reply

OP if you’re near Sutton Coldfield I can recommend a couple of excellent private dermatologists.

The nhs pretty much grinds to a halt clinic wise in July/August ime...all the consultants are on holiday 🤷‍♀️

No, it doesn’t. I’ve got loads of consultant appointments in July and August.