I just received the automated results of a biopsy I had done from scrapings of a nose blemish: **************************************************************BASAL CELL CARCINOMA, ULCERATED, NODULAR TYPE, INVOLVING SPECIMEN BASE. Part A is received in 10% neutral-buffered formalin and designated as "left nasal ala". The specimen consists of a shave of tan skin measuring 0.5 x 0.5 x 0.1 cm. The skin surface is remarkable for a flesh-colored papule measuring 0.3 x 0.3 x 0.1 cm. The central portion of this area is tan-brown and atrophied. The margin is inked green, the specimen is bisected and entirely submitted in cassette A1. ************************************************************** I don't know what to think. This is another one of my dysfunctional doctor stories and I'm infuriated right now. I saw the guy over a year ago to look at this, and he told me it was no big deal...that I could have it removed for cosmetic reasons or just leave it be. It started growing and shedding skin so I went back last week and got the same diagnosis. As we were winding up the appointment, I was rubbing it with my finger, and the doctor said "What is that you're playing with on your left nostril?" WHAT IS IT?!?!?!?!?!? It's the thing I came in specifically for you to look at!!! TWICE!!!! Apparently there is a small discoloration on the bridge of my nose that caught his attention I'm assuming on both visits (the mark from my glasses is all can see), and he completely overlooked a carcinoma mere centimeters from his inspection site. So he gets out his lighted magnifying glass again, says that it's likely cancer but a non-metastizing type, and takes a biopsy. I just got the results posted to my online account a few minutes ago. Had he not seen me messing with it as I was leaving, I would have gone even longer with this cancerous growth!!! How can you be a dermatologist and not see such a thing screaming at you from across the room, much less while examining an adjacent spot???? And not only did I go in once before to have this specific thing looked at, I've seen the guy two other times for a general skin cancer screening!!! I guess I'll make an appointment with a surgeon on Monday. And I'll find another dermatologist for this year's (and all the subsequent) screening. I am so highly pissed. This thing has needlessly had another year to grow, and quite easily could had gone even longer.
Go to another Dermatologist!!! That guy sounds like a joke. I have had several taken off my nose on a yearly basis. This year was the first of many I didn't, but my doctor found one on my ear. He should have you back and take a bigger sample to see how far it may have spread unless he took a large sample to start with. Seriously, I would look for another dermatologist.
I've already started looking, since my annual screening is due. This guy told me I need to go in to UVA Hospital for outpatient surgery (they won't put me under but he can't do it in his office.) Do you think the surgeons would make certain things are well-quantified before they just start cutting?
I would go only if the surgeons are specialists in dermatology. They should be able to look at the size of the sample taken and figure out how much they should take so any cancer cells are well within the borders of what they remove.
@John Brunner .. yes get a new doctor! In fact i would never go back to him, nor pay him a dime. My brother just had a really nasty looking growth taken off his ear. And doctor is pre screening and taking care of top his bald head . Skin cancer runs in our family.
I worked for a woman who was a lifeguard in her teen years. I don't know how often she went in, but every visit she was having something removed...and she was in her 40s.
Yes, you will only need a driver if numbing such makes you vulnerable to road rage. Hahaha! Seriously if you take a happy pill to make it go a lot easier, then you will need a driver. Basically the same as a dental visit. Personally, I prefer to take a happy pill an hour before the numbing.
You may not like this but, being me, I will say it anyway. I had a thing on the bridge of my nose a long time ago and hubby made me go see our gp. He said it looked like cancer but not the deadly kind. He said it should be taken off but they might take part of the bone off too. I had a friend missing his left nostril and knew of others who had nose parts removed often enough. I found a guy who manufactured camsema. Back then, there were two sites with negative reviews about it. Both warning how it removed women's faces, chemically. But this guy had a long history with many exceptional reviews and gave money back guarantees. I sent for the stuff. It worked just as he said. (I can tell you more if you like). Ten days after application the thing fell off. It came back 7 years later I re-applied. People warned again... This poor guy was hounded. He left the country. He was brought back, tried and put in prison for this stuff as it was not FDA approved. you could cook it up in your kitchen so no one can afford to have it patented! He left after getting out and went to Bolivia(?) a non extradition country. He was kidnapped and brought back to the US and imprisoned again. In the meantime others were making the black salve using the cansema name. They were never bothered but their product did not work. ????? Now I see billions of negative sites when searching for cansema or black salve cancer treatment and I would go to Greg CAton again in a heartbeat!!! Why would we not want to see skin cancer treatments that worked in you home? Because it would damage a large industry!
I'm surprised that a dermatologist won't just do the surgery. My husband has had several of those taken off of his forehead and top of one ear. His derm does the procedure right in the office and he always drives himself there and back. He also has some kind of topical chemotherapy cream that he was prescribed to use in case he notices a "rough spot" near where the spots were removed before. My father had melanoma which was a totally different ballgame. It eventually killed him as it metastasized to his organs and colon. He had skin grafts on his neck and half of one ear taken off over the years.
It seems like a small spot so I can't imagine why he wouldn't just take it off. My husband has also had a procedure called a Mohs surgery in the derm's office. You definitely need another doctor.