"Skin Cancer care"

I had stage 2 skin cancer on my back. It was removed along with some lymph nodes by an AMAZING team at Crosshouse, Ayr and the Royal hospital in Glasgow.

GREAT things about my Cancer treatment

•The care of staff in Dermatology, Plastic Surgery and the Ward in the Royal. NHS staff are just special – how can you all be so cheery and supportive when your working conditions are so difficult?

•The speed of the process – from appointment to removal of the offending tumour (both scoops) (in the tail end of the last lockdowns!)

•The aftercare at Dermotology and Plastics (Ayr and Crosshouse)

•The phonecall from the Plastic surgeon days after my op to say my biopsies were clear - above and beyond – he is a star.

•The Macmillan team who reassured me by phone

•The breast screening team and the speed of my scan with them when I panicked I had breast cancer.

My cancer is gone and thanks to the speed of the team did not get a chance to metastasise – I am so lucky and grateful.

The not so great things that could be improved (said with hope that it helps rather than as complaint)

•Having to complete 5 copies of the allergy, dentures, jewellery form on paper when being admitted to the Royal – why is data not shared??? Was not reassured by this!

•Having no food when I was brought back to the ward after the op, 17 hours into a fast. (I am allergic to wheat and was offered toast or a sandwich – see previous point about those 5 forms)

•Collapsing from lack of food (and low blood-pressure) after the op, needing CT scans and blood tests and an extra nurse on overnight in case I went again. (big waste of resource for the sake of a snack!)

•Not knowing how to use the hopeless bedpans – who does? Tips would be good!

•Having to ask for toilet paper and something to wash my hands after using the bedpan – some of the basics of looking after an incapacitated person are missing - not through lack of care - feels like it was not on a list of processes . ..

•The hospital food – how can food be made so awful? Why have we not fixed this yet?

•Reacting to the replacement dressings – itchy and sore round my scars – had to take them off early. (original dressings were AMAZING – worth checking if people react to the low cost versions?)

•Reacting to the glue used to seal my wounds as it degraded 2 weeks after the op – 3 weeks of itching red sore flaking skin round my wounds with nobody knowing what it was. So bad on my back I struggled to sleep or work. Eventually a Dermotology student recognised it and reassured me it would go (it did but the worry could have been avoided!)

•My lack of understanding of Lymph nodes – I had some removed and my arm and breast really suffered with pains, itching, numbness. This was not listed as a potential result of the op – again knowing this might happen would have reduced the worry.

In conclusion I was saved from potential disaster by the NHS – on its knees, under staffed, under resourced and obviously hobbled by those with the purse strings. Just imagine what it could do if we funded it properly. Hugs to the staff – you are astonishing and I will always be VERY grateful.