Third Time Lucky

I felt a certain amount of Déjà vu regarding whilst writing this post.

Going back to December 2015, when I eventually built up the courage to go and see my GP regarding my inability to talk louder than a church mouse, I encouraged anyone who’d had a long term concern to put on their big boys pants and get themselves to their GP. I’ve had a small patch of dry skin on the inside of my knee for a year or so, and more recently a patch of skin above my cheek that was scabbed and dry for at least 4 months. As usual I ignored them. Eventually I’d had enough of waking to a bloody pillow case each morning and made an appointment to see my GP. I was lucky to get an appointment 90 minutes after my phone call, and didn’t have to go through any hoops with the Receptionist as to why I needed an appointment.

The Dr. examined both patches of skin (luckily I was wearing clean underpants) and decided that with my history of being really bad at getting better, he’d better refer me up the line. Hello “14 Day Pathway”, it’s been a while. If you’re referred as a potential cancer risk you should be seen within 14 days of the referral, hence the 14 Day Pathway. I was contacted by Royal Berkshire Hospital less than 24 working hours of my initial GP’s appointment and given a hospital appointment six days from the referral. Outstanding performance from our much maligned NHS.

I rocked up at the Dermatology Dept. 10 minutes early for my appointment. The sign on the wall said “Clinic Delays”, it was boiling hot and packed. Welcome back to the NHS I know and love. Eventually I was called in, it was actually 5 minutes before my appointment was due, but I’m trying to build up the tension here a bit.

The Dr. asked me to go into a cubicle, remove my shirt and drop my trousers. Who am I to refuse such a polite request? He proceeded to then examine my upper body and back with some sort of magic scope thingy, before taking a closer look at my knee and my cheek. The upshot is that my body is in good condition for my age (I think he was talking about skin type rather than muscle mass!). The area around my knee could be treated by being frozen, but the patch of skin on my cheek will need surgery as it is a Basal cell carcinoma, ie Skin Cancer L “not again” was the first thought that went through my head. The extremely good news is that BCC is the most common form of cancer, easily treatable, rarely spreads or returns and has nothing whatsoever to do with my previous two versions. This has most likely been caused by exposure to the sun over the years. I’ve been referred to a Plastic Surgeon for a consultation on how to proceed, but it’s likely that a small op, done under a local anaesthetic will be offered. As it’s a Plastic Surgeon I’m going to ask if he could possible straighten my nose out whilst he’s there. Hopefully this will all be done in the next couple of months. Whilst I was still in the “Trousers Down” position he went on to “freeze” the patch on my knee, blimey it was still stinging 24 hours later, but it should fall off in the next couple of weeks. I presume he means the patch of skin will fall off and not my leg.

So, to reiterate, if you’ve got something wrong with you, and it’s hanging around, GO AND SEE YOUR DR, do not pass Go and do not collect £200.

Finally for this brief update, watch this short video of Rams scoring the winning try in the last minute of their match last week against local rivals Henley RFC. It should take your mind away from me sitting sans trousers in a cubicle. The match was one of those “I was there” moments J - The Battle of the Thames

As always, thanks for reading.

To be continued…………….

#Shoulder2Shoulder