Dear LittleCatt, please stop worrying! My dear Mum had 2 or 3 of those removed from her nose, and like yours, the Dr doing the removal can almost always tell straight away if it is anything other than a BCC.They took my dear mum's out and she didn't even ask to be given the verdict. She found out that they were BCCs when she was at her GP's for something else, I wasn't even worried about that aspect of her health, and I worry about everything!. She was fine, I didn't even notice her scars once they had healed.
Once a BCC has been taken out, they are gone - it doesn't matter that they were a carcinoma, they have been cut out, they won't grow again. You can, unfortunately, get new ones coming up at any time, very close to the removed ones, but that is because they were seperate ones that would have come anyway - that will just depend on how unlucky you are, sorry. But the worst that will happen is that you will have to go through with the removal procedure again.
You will most likely get a letter saying that yes, it was a BCC (this is what you should be expecting, and indeed hoping for - if it was not completely benign). The BCC will not have spread to other parts of your body, as BCCs don't get to your lymphatic system, although I do have to admit that I don't know if they actually can't enter the lymphatic system, or if they are just so slow, that you would have to live for something like 300 to 400 years for that to happen! You have probably had the best big C that there is to get (it was either the best one, or it turned out to not be C at all).
You may 'grow' some more, so just keep a monthly check on them - I have thrown that pretty arbitrary figure of once monthly out there, because I think that that is a frequency of checking, that would hopefully keep you pretty reassured. A BCC cannot turn into a melanoma.
What I am absolutely disgusted by OP is how you have been treated by your GP, and the rest of the dermatology team following on from there. I am very aware that Covid has led to some big changes in the NHS, and if not related to Covid itself, I think that most of the changes have been terrible.
IMO your Dr should have seen you for your first appointment about this, not conducted it on the phone, as your bumps were obviously something that had to be looked at with real eyes, on real skin! He should also have definitely not expected you to take photos and send them to him first. Once at your face to face appointment, he should have been the one to take the photos to send to the dermatology department - it is ridiculous that he didn't.
When you did attend the dermatology department the specialist should have been really nice and reassuring, and explained all that I have said above, and more. You should not have been left worrying about your results. She should have also checked that (at least your normally exposed skin) didn't have any other concerning lumps. The fact that you actually asked her about a couple of bumps, and she was impatient about it, suggests to me that she urgently needs extra training.
If you feel up to it, you should be making some complaints in writing, both to the GP's practice manager, and to whoever deals with complaints at the hospital - maybe starting with PALS if it has one. Has anyone, at any time, told you that it might not be a BCC? If not, then I am really perplexed that you have been left to worry like this.
Absolutely no-one can categorically say that a person does not have a cancer in their body, at any given time, but there are quite a few blood markers etc that if clear, can make it more unlikely that someone is suffering from a cancer. But we shouldn't go around worrying about things like that all the time anyway, as stress can be much more dangerous for our bodies than the occurrence of a BCC.
Of course, the fact that you know that you probably had a BCC, has understandably made you more worried about it than the average person on the street, and of course I am in no way trying to deny you your fear, or make you feel bad about it - it is completely natural to feel worried. The last 2 years have had a horrible toll on many of us when it comes to our, and our loved ones health. So please keep on telling us here on Mumsnet about your worries, many of us would love to hold your hand through this, but I do hate the thought that you have been going through months of worry, when if it was a BCC, you truly had nothing to worry about. Like I said, try and put it out of your head as much as possible, have a monthly date marked on your calendar to check your skin for any new bumps or lumps, and come back here for care and support. ❤️💐