Skin Cancer - The Waiting Game

Last week, I had a "lesion" scraped and cauterized at the back of my upper right arm, after having noticed it bleeding painlessly back in July. Just now, it's away for biopsy, and being Christmas, I'm told I'll have a further 6-8 weeks wait. All indications point to it being a carcinoma, either Basel or Squamous, the most common types, and thankfully slow-growing. I've not had cancer before, but from adolescence I loved basking in the sun, and through the years have become more aware of my skin becoming more mottled, with various moles and spots. About 15 years ago, my wife mentioned one rather larger one on the back of my leg, when we were sunning naked on a beach in Crete. I panicked then, got it checked when we got home - it was ok, but from then on I always took the greatest caution in the sun. However, I think the damage was done long ago, and I'm paying for it now. The waiting for results is possibly the most traumatic time, and all the advice you can really get, or offer, is to keep as busy as possible - preferably with other people. Emotions and anxiety swings all over the place, particularly if you're gifted/cursed with a vivid imagination! But one very big motto to always remember is...."Never, ever go Googling!". The internet is full of worst-case scenarios and the information often out-of-date. Trying to diagnose yourself will send you up the wall, or into tears, guaranteed. If you find yourself in a pit of despair, as can sometimes happen, my best suggestion is to call the Macmillan help line and talk with a nurse - these people are truly angels. 0808-808-00-00.

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