Olive

[Olivemay64]

My doctor tells me I have a bcc on the side of my nose. About as big as a split pea. I asked my doctor what we going to do about it.? She said ' nothing, it's much too small'

It seems to me that it's better to treat it while it's small. Advice please.

[gfmum1]

See a different GP sooner rather than later! Yes it's definitely better to treat BCCs when they're small. I had a BCC on my nose removed back in 2007, it had come and gone for several years prior to this. By the time it was treated it was also about the size of a split pea but the skin graft it required is much bigger (about 1.5cm).

I now have a much smaller suspected BCC on my arm and saw my GP about it on Friday. He told me off because I've suspected this particular lesion for about 6 months, he said I should have done something about it after 6 weeks and has referred me to a specialist clinic.

[Olivemay64 in reply to gfmum1]

Thank you. That was kind of you. My difficulty is she is a strong lady. She sent me a year ago for one on my inner eye lid and it wasn't a bcc. She is very good.maybe she was keeping within her budget.

I think I ought to go back too.

[gfmum1 in reply to Olivemay64]

I do understand the difficulties of getting a GP to take things seriously. Are there others in the practice you could go to who might not be so forceful? I'm lucky because the GP I saw had the attitude of "better safe than sorry" but I suspect my past history had some bearing on that.

Good luck!

[Viccty]

Agree with previous comment....get a second opinion...I have one on my nose too. And I got two opinions before going to surgery...as it happens will be having it removed this Friday ...!! Good luck and keep us posted. As for gfmum1...sorry to hear you have another one!! After your update I will be careful about anything else that may appear on my skin and nor be complacent! I was quietly kidding myself to believe that mine would be a one off...now I will be cautious!!!

[gfmum1 in reply to Viccty]

Thanks for your concern, that' s really kind of you - to be honest, though, it really doesn't bother me this time! My husband has been seriously ill so that makes everything else pale into insignificance.

Good luck for Friday, do let us know how you get on.

[MMasters]

Your doctor is a lunatic. You don't play games with any type of cancer. While it's true that bcc rarely metatisizes, do you want to be the rare case? I guarantee that if your doctor or his/her family member had your condition, it would be taken care of immediately. Your doctor is more concerned about not being flagged as order a lot of expensive treatments than doing what is right. Like that phoney study which recommended that women not get mammograms until they are 50 and only get them every 2 years. If your doctor won't schedule surgery to have it removed, go over his/her head to the boss and demand that it be removed for 2 reasons: 1) it is unsightly and makes you depressed about your appearance and 2) it causes you so much anxiety that you can't sleep or concentrate on your daily work. They have to take action or they could be in serious trouble if you are in the small percentage where it spreads. By the time cancer is stage 2, it's treatable with very aggressive treatment. By the time it's stage 3, not so good. Why wait?