Hello, my dad had several BCCs at the same time.

I have called the private hospital to see if I could book in with them as I called the nhs hospital, and I was told that it's more of a 60 week wait. The private hospital couldn't fit me in until the end of March, but I have since found another private clinic and I am going on the 5th January for an excision.

Where abouts are you and could you travel? 

My BCC was checked under a dermascope by a GP and she said it was nothing sinister. I would never trust a GP again to diagnose something that may be cancerous. That was before covid, had she diagnosed it correctly, I would have had my treatment done under the nhs and not had all this worry having waited so long.

If you can, ask the private dermatologist to take a look at all your concerns. 

Good luck with your appointment on the 20th and I hope they can get you in if they confirm your suspicions. 

Oh goodness, I don't even think the person who checked my 'bump' was a GP. Maybe a nurse?! It was during covid and I probably had it for 2-3 years. Apparently it would have increased in size etc if it was sinister but it's not changing in any way (even now, a year later), so they weren't concerned.

I'll try to get both concerns checked by a dermatologist on the 20th and then a GP on the 21st...

no idea how I'll survive until then, I'm sick with worry after reading on google (I know I shouldn't!).

thank you!

Mine started out as a pink mark and I'd had it for over three years, then it started to change not get any bigger but change in texture and sometimes like a small cut.

I had another doctor tell me that if it's cancer it would be brown, and the dr that said it wasn't anything sinister, said its just a lesion and they change. I wouldn't trust any doctor at my surgery after those comments, I would always asked to be referred to see a dermatologist. 

Well the fact that you have something on your skin and it's been there a while, it's worth asking about it at your appointment, and that will put your mind at rest.

Did you know Boots Pharmacy do skin checks, I can't remember the price, you pay a certain amount for the first one and then any more are cheaper. They take photos and get a specialist to check them.

Good luck, please let me know how you get on. 

I had no idea about boots, so good to know! Thank you for sharing.

So I had an appointment with a private dermatologist today. The appointment was in relation to a possible melanoma/changing mole but I also shared that bump on my belly that was dismissed by NHS. The dermatologist said I need to biopsy my mole as well as that bump! I burst into tears coz one mole is scary enough for me.

I can only wait now and hoping that my results won't be that bad. I will get a biopsy done either next week or 12 Jan 2022.

i didn't ask what that bump was but it obviously didn't look right. To me, it looks like a BCC but I've read that rare forms of melanoma can look very similar to BCC. The dermatologist said he can't see any discolouration via dermascope but there are visible/tiny blood vessels and I'm definitely ok to get it checked and removed. It was actually getting annoying but my NHS practice obviously thought it was fine

Well I am glad that you mentioned the bump on your belly, and I know as scary as it is, it's good it's going to be biopsied as well as your mole, and it's good you're not having to wait a long time to get that done.

I know it can take a while for biopsy results to come back, so try not to worry yourself too much while waiting. 

My partner had a mole start changing, this was just after the first lockdown, they removed it by excision and the results came back it wasn't skin cancer, so sometimes it is good news.

Boots charge £35 for the first mole/lesion  and then £15 for each additional mole/lesion. They can't advise you on what moles etc, you have to identify them, then they scan them and then the images are sent to a screencancer dermatology specialist for analysis. That's far better than going to see a nurse or gp that knows nothing about skin cancer.

It's so frustrating that my lesion and your bump could have been treated much sooner had the right advice been given. I don't think it's acceptable to say "it's nothing sinister" when they actually don't know what it is.

Good luck with the biopsies, fingers crossed for good news.

Thank you, your message was very helpful in calming down my nerves!

I got my mole and the bump removed today. The mole isn't looking good at all but my dermatologist seems to think that the removal should be enough as I caught it early.

He couldn't say what the bump was, but it'll be tested as well. He didn't seem too concerned but said it was filled with fluid..?! Waiting for the results now.. it should take around a week as I'm going privately.

Good to hear your dermatologist removed both, and that you don't have to wait too long for your results. I hope the removal went ok and are healing well.

Fingers crossed your mole doesn't cause you any further problems, I do think it's key to getting these things checked early and by a dermatologist and not a gp.

I hope you have a very Merry Christmas, Best Wishes for the New Year.

So I received my results today and I have melanoma in situ (stage 0) on my arm and BCC on my belly, where the 'bump' was'

 really stressed and confused because my dermatologist said that shave biopsy was probably enough to remove a BCC but if I wanted to (if I was stressed about it), I could do a small skin excision to make sure. Any ideas?!

He said it's unlikely to kill me and it might just grow back if I leave as is (shaved). I didn't think I could just leave it after a shave biopsy as apparently it can be very invasive?! I don't know anything about it so I don't know how to take it..