CLL / Skin Cancer - getting it checked in the UK

[FairweatherSailor]

Just saw another post about the risks of exposure to the sun. We spend a lot of our summer sailing around the Brittany coast of France, which is beautiful and also sunny, so being in the sun is unavoidable to a degree. I am not a sun bather but always use factor 50, wide brimmed hat etc and always seek shade if we are dining out. But there is clearly a risk. I am 71 on W&W and no melanomas so far. Friends in Australia said that they always get an annual whole body skin check by their doctor. So I asked our GP if that was possible and he is happy to do so. First one last October. Was referred to a dermatologist for a mole that he wasn't sure about and got a hospital appointment within a month. Happily there was nothing problematic that needed treatment. If you are in the UK are you also getting annual skin checks from your GP ? If not probably worth asking ! NB we are not private patients and rely solely on the NHS support.

[GMa27]

I live in Florida. Have had CLL 16 years. In remission almost 5 years from FCR chemo.I own a boat, live near the ocean. I have been a sun bather since teenager. I am 68 now. My dermatologist & oncologist said the damage was done in my teens when we used sun reflectors & baby oil. I am in the sun all the time. My non CLL friends have so many skin issues. I have had just in the past year 2 separate occasions when 1 was a squamous & 6 months later a basal cell.

Easy Mohs procedure & done. I get skin checks twice a year. Use sunscreen most of the time. I don't if I am just out & about doing errands but always when by my pool, at beach, on boat. My hematologist said enjoy ur life & use ur sunscreen.

Some people are more susceptible to skin issues. It becomes common for anyone as they get older to have skin issues from time to time. Always be aware of anything that looks different & get it checked.

☀️

[Sojomama13]

Hi,

My CLL Specialist requested that I get checked every 6 months. I am incredibly fair skinned and have a familial history (My Dad) with skin cancer. Initially my insurance didn’t want to pay (Shocking LOL) but my Doctor worked it out. Often the folks denying have ZERO medical experience. More likely than not, if your Doctor can justify the reason, they approve.

Sandy

[lexie]

My GPs always had a look at my skin as part of my annual exam. When I was diagnosed with CLL I began reading on CLL sites the recommendation to get a dermatologist on the team. The first couple dermatologists I had missed a BCC, saying it was a cyst since 2016. The last doctor quit the practice and I was assigned a new doctor who questioned the cyst diagnosis on the bridge of my nose, biopsy found BCC, and a surgeon just removed that with MOHs in November. I never stopped wearing N95 masks so no one saw the 3/4" inch long sutured cut down the length of my nose. I didn't go out much since the mask top pressed on the wound and very painful.

I was into tanning, fair skinned, blue eyed blond, doing what was popular. When I mentioned my history and wondered why I had no skin cancer, my first dermatologist said I was lucky with genetics. Turns out I wasn't, she just missed it.

Even with a dermatologist, if you have a concern insist that it be taken seriously.

[casanova]

Thanks for the reminder. When I last queried skin blemishes/moles with my GP, he gave a cursory look and told me they were simply seborrheic keratoses, nothing to worry about. There was no offer of a referral to a dermatologist for a full body check. I will raise the issue when I next visit my GP.

Maureen UK

[FairweatherSailor in reply to casanova]

It was actually my GP that did the whole body check. Our surgery has two GP's who specialise in that kind of thing. But he saw something that he wasn't too sure about so referred me and the hospital consultant took his time yo make sure that there wasn't anything else troubling. I plan to go back to my GP next autumn for another check.

[Big_Dee]

Hello FairweatherSailor

I was born and raised in Rocky Mountains so had a lot of sun exposure. For last 3 years I have had annual dermatologist check up every year. I have never had any skin cancers and private insurance covers cost. Blessings.

[casanova]

Good that you have GPs who have an interest in dermatology. I will check if my Practice has one. Thanks for your response. Maureen UK

[SERVrider]

I have been referred to the Dermatological consultant and have a 6 monthly overall check. I have had two or three basal cell carcinomae excised, one naevus removed and a couple of plug biopsies done. The whole system is puzzling because the work has been done either at the Royal Surrey in Guildford or Haslemere Community Hospital but it is organised by Ashford & St Peters NHS Trust though even the dermatologist has never been to either Ashford (which is mostly geriatric) or St Peters, Chertsey, which is a district general hospital and nor have I. The Max Fac surgeons are based at the Royal Surrey and are serving/retired RAMC surgeons, a Col. and a Lt.Col., but all correspondence comes from St Peter's. My Immunologist and Haematologist are based at the Royal Surrey and it is my local hospital. How the NHS works seems to defeat even the practitioners but they just get on with it and say that Ashford & St Peter's pay their salaries but beyond that they have no contact with that Trust. Every 6 months I get an appointment letter from them and go to Haslemere to have the whole body checks.

[FairweatherSailor in reply to SERVrider]

That's interesting. I am also in Surrey and my local hospital is Frimley Park , which is really excellent. My referral was from my local GP who can refer to either St Peter's (also a very good hospital) or Frimley Park. My CLL is managed by the Royal Marsden in Sutton (for historic reasons) . I would be very interested to get 6 monthly checks. Is this done through the NHS or privately ? If privately who prompts the appointment (your GP or the Royal Surrey)

[scarletnoir]

Useful suggestion, though I'm not sure if the current system could cope... I had skin cancer linked to CLL back in 2012-13, and underwent three ops under general anaesthetic. No-one offered me follow up dermatologist appointments then or since, though of course I avoid the sun and use factor 50 on exposed parts, as well as a wide-brimmed hat.

Maybe I'll ask the GP next time I see (whoever) about somthing else...

[SERVrider]

Fairweather Sailor

All my dermatology is NHS and my consultant is Dr Ngozi Asobie, she is really good. It would be worth trying to get a referral to her. As for the Royal Marsden, when I had a BMB at the RSCH, they sent some of the samples to the Marsden at Sutton for analysis rather than to the RSCH/FP/StP joint pathology lab.

On a separate topic, you'll see from my profile picture that I'm part of SERV Surrey & London. (a blood-bike charity) Our busiest hospital is King's College and our second busiest is Frimley Park.

[FairweatherSailor in reply to SERVrider]

Thanks for this. I'm actually very happy with the consultant at RMH it's the 6 monthly whole body skin checks in Hazelmere that I'm particularly interested in. Would it be your GP or RSCH that set this up for you. Well done on the SERV work , a vital service !

[SERVrider in reply to FairweatherSailor]

Fairweather Sailor, I think it was a referral from my GP rather than from the Royal Surrey. Perhaps your consultant at the Marsden would be happy to refer you to the dermatologists at Ashford & St Peter's. By the way, the community hospital is at Haslemere, Surrey, not Hazelmere, Bucks., Much easier to get to. Parking is a bit of a bugger as you have to go through the arch and round the back to the outpatients' department in a "temporary" building.

[FairweatherSailor in reply to SERVrider]

Thank you. I will ask the consultant at the arsden when I am there in a couple of weeks. I will also ask the GP.