Experience of basal cell carcinoma

[TheChiffchaff]

I had a couple of skin lesions that wouldn't heal for six months or so. Bit of a saga getting this far with appallingly useless private company doing NHS dermatology but I have now been seen.
The first appointment was with a nurse, a lump on my ear was biopsied to rule out SCC and I'm waiting for results which will take up to 8 weeks. I wish they had just removed it all and have done but they insisted on biopsy.
Then I went back on Friday with another lesion on my neck and the dermatologist said it was definitely BCC and applied liquid nitrogen to freeze it off. I was in and out in ten minutes and didn't get chance to ask any questions. I have to go back in three months. I did ask if they would check me for other marks but she "didn't have time".

Just wondering what to expect next. Do these things keep coming back? I read that surgical excision is better than cryotherapy but she didn't give me a choice.

I haven't anything useful to add but following with interest and sympathy, as dm has had what they are saying is bcc on her back, very obvious for the past six months and God willing is FINALLY having it removed this month.

But the number of appointments with gps just prescribing antibiotics, consultants then being rude about how long it had been there (like we hadn't been trying to get her seen for months), lost referrals, last minute appointments for "tomorrow" when she is highly frail and dependent so considerable planning required, etc etc - my goodness I feel your frustration 💐

Both my Elderly parents had cryo for their BCC and they found it took a while to heal . However they were not in pain having had local Anaesthetic and the wounds were very clean and minimal scaring .

DH (and his brother) have had several of these removed surgically but others keep appearing and I monitor his back like an ape checking for fleas! Its always been a very straightforward process though...nurse examines the swine, takes photo and sends off. Dh then called in, gets examined again ans then scheduled to have it cut out. Back ans chest are a bit battle scarred but he now has one on the end of his nose. All due to sun and sun bed worshipping I'm afraid

I wasn't offered any local anaesthetic she just picked up an aerosol of liquid nitrogen and went at it. To be fair it didn't hurt, a mild sting at most. It's a huge blister now.

@DierdreDaphne Oh it's a saga.
I first saw a nurse practitioner in January. She said she didn't know what it was but definitely not suspicious 🙄. It was late march by the time they did teledermatology. The dermatologist said it needed to be a 2ww to rule out SCC.
I didn't get seen by the local contracted dermatology company for another four weeks. Then it was another nurse. She arranged for biopsy on one lesion and just dismissed the second. I wasn't offered any treatment or further investigation.
So I made another GP appointment for the second lesion, which took three weeks, to ask if they could treat it. GP took one look and referred me again on a 2ww. I pestered for an appointment and saw an actual doctor this time who took ten seconds to decide it was BCC and then burnt it off.
You couldn't make it up really.

@Gatekeeper Good idea, I'll get DH to look at my back.

Mum had it on her scalp, they were pretty prompt to do surgery, even though they had to shave most of the top of her head and cut out a significant area before attempting to sew the remaining skin together.

My dad has squamous cell carcinoma and has had around 15 lesions in the last 5 years.

@TheChiffchaff Sounds like a very similar experience to ours - such a kerfaffle :(

I am about to have two on face removed BCC, dermatologist is surgically removing them, had also on back and arm , all snipped off .healed and never grew back as theyvare non invasive and very rare if they are.

DH had one on his nose. I diagnosed it from my mum's Reader's Digest Health Manual..,

The GP said it was fine. A year later, it broke open. Healed. Broke open.

Referred to a dermatologist. "So, this has just appeared..."

"No! My husband first saw the GP a year ago!"

It was removed surgically a fortnight later. They did a skin flap surgery to cover the hole. It healed beautifully - you would never have known it had been there.

Some years later, DH had a stroke. He was in hospital for 4 months...and I noticed a large red mass on his back. Also, a smaller warty growth on his chest.

He finally let me to take him to the doctor's to see about the warty growth. Referred to dermatologist.

It was deemed to be non-cancerous, but they froze it off on the spot. I seized my chance, hauled up the back of DH's polo shirt and said "There's this too..."

Registrar: "Ah..."

He fetched the leading consultant. She nodded. He was in the next week and it was cut out with a margin and stitched up. All was good after that.

Given that nurses in the stroke rehab ward were showering DH for 4 months, I'm amazed that it wasn't picked up there. I guess they were just concentrating on getting him home.

My dad had a basal cell carcinoma removed from his nose. That was the only one he ever had and he only had a couple of follow up checks before being discharged. My mum had several squamous cell carcinomas removed from her face, two surgically, with one of them requiring plastic surgery due to location. The others were removed using the freezing spray. Squamous cell carcinomas are considered to be more serious than basal cell carcinomas, but even then there was no spread to lymph nodes. One of them grew alarmingly fast and looked like a little horn on her forehead, but it was removed very easily. She attended dermatology for a couple of years, then was discharged and didn’t get any more.

Sounds straightforward by all accounts. I was surprised they biopsied one and not the other. I do have a slightly suspect mark on my face which I'll ask about next time I go. It looks like miasma but is a bit flaky where other patches of miasma are not.