New Member.

[CornishBrian]

Hi, just found this site and am I grateful. 20 years ago my GP diagnosed a skin condition at the base of my neck as eczema and during that period, I have been prescribed various creams and lotions. It spread, I told my GP that, only to be told that is the nature of the condition. However, following a really bad episode, I went to my GP to be seen by a locum. He said it was skin cancer. I attended hospital, diagnosed BCC but too large an area for it to be cut out. I did go back and they removed a very large "Rodent Ulcer" and this was straight forward and healed quickly. Now on Thursday and the following Thursday I am at the hospital for two sessions of Photodynamic Therapy. I have had it explained about what is involved and all seems straight forward but I am unsure about how bad the "discomfort" will be, how successful it will be and any side effects or complications. The ulcer is from my neck to the small of my back and one sholder blade to the other. Can anyone put my mind at rest please.

[drash481]

It all sounds very very odd - normally if you have something quite large then they take a few biopsies e.g. about 4 from carious locations to make sure the that whole thing is the same form of pathology

[CornishBrian in reply to drash481]

Thanks for that. i omitted all about my tests and samples etc because of the length of the blog. It all grew from the small little area that I started with and after the tests etc, they knew it was all the same. it's a tad more complicated with me because of the severe COPD and Angina as I am on a high dose of anticoag etc and bleed like a stuck pig. I also have aggressive prostrate cancer but they can't biopsy me because of being unable to stop the bleeding so it was straight in with the laser.

[Midlander]

Nearly 3 years ago I had photo-dynamic therapy on one small area after a biopsy had revealed bcc. I felt absolutely nothing during or after either of the treatment sessions. Is that a good thing? Probably not, because I went on to have treatment with Imiquimod cream - again no apparent effect, but was signed off by the dermatologist.

So, good luck with your PDT and hope it works for you!

[CornishBrian in reply to Midlander]

I went yesterday and the operative kept telling me it was unusual to treat such a large area in one go and when she started, I knew what she meant. Nearly made the minute before she had to pause it. Bless her, she went to the staff restaurant and came back with a bag of ice cubes that she mixed with water in a sprayer and doused my back continually. The pain was off the scale during the treatment and only started to ease this evening. Now it feels like bees keep stinging me. Weird, the pain doesn't intensify if I touch it or anything. I was told that because it was a chemical reaction going on in the cancer cells, the best idea to hang onto was that the cancer was being killed. Hopefully, next weeks session will not be so bad because although it's the same area again, there should be a lot less cancer to react....I pray.

Bandages of tomorrow so I may see a difference from the photo. The pain I felt must have been like lying on a lit barbeque...horrendous. I am still shaking violently but they said that it was my body reacting to shock bit another stage over. Thanks for your reply.

[lovesradio]

Dear Cornish Brian, you are going through a hellish time so good luck with the treatment next week and just believe that the cancer cells are being killed. Essentially just think that the worse the treatment the more effective it is where cancer is concerned!