Carcinoma diagnosis

[Caribou93]

I'm a nervous wreck right now. I will say, someone that I know just had a diagnosis of carcinoma of their skin (don't know if it was BCC or SCC), but either way it was diagnosed. They will be having the rest removed soon, only some of it was taken off for the biopsy. However, the spot is rather large - probably an inch wide. They had this spot for probably three years and it was mistaken originally as eczema, or something else but it wasn't going away. Finally it was biopsied and the diagnosis was made, and I am terrified that they waited too long and it has spread. The area where the biopsy was taken is now dented obviously and I'm thinking, what if it got to their skull?! (it's on their forehead)

I feel selfish because I've only thought about my own problems (I made a recent post on here about my lack of motivation), and I feel so stupid that someone else actually has something wrong and here I am only thinking about myself. I'm a nervous wreck because yes they will be getting the rest of it removed, I worry that it's bigger than it looks.

Can anyone relate to something like this? I'm sorry for my ranting.

[BlueIris]

BCC pretty much never spreads, and even with SCC the risk is only about 5 per cent.

I wilfully ignored my BCC for over five years, and I've suffered no lasting harm barring a discreet scar.

[Kuraimoar]

My father had a BCC removed a few years ago. He had the spot for many years before getting it checked. It never spread or even grew in that time and he is perfectly healthy today.

[Caribou93]

Thank you for responding,

I forgot to mention, they were asked to go to a consultation appointment. What does that mean? Does that mean it’s more serious and they need to address other issues?

And it is squamous cell carcinoma

[BlueIris]

All this means is a chat with a specialist about upcoming treatment. It's completely standard.

[Caribou93]

The more I sit and think about it, the more anxious I get. They’ve had it for about 3 years now, and granted it’s taken some time to get a little large, the whole thing from end to end is probably just under an inch wide. Like how does SCC spread? I just have this constant “what if” going on in my mind. What if it’s too late, what if they had gotten it taken care of sooner?

[Kuraimoar]

Try not to worry so much scc has a survival rate of 99%. Even Google says it's usually not life threatening. I'm sure they will remove it and everything will be ok. You're not doing yourself any good by sitting around and worrying constantly.

[Caribou93]

Today is the day of their consultation appointment. This is all I’ve been thinking about since they had their diagnosis and I’m scared and it’s not even the actual removal of the spot. :(