The light at the end of my very dark tunnel. After having had an open lesion on the side of my nose for 28 months, I finally found the courage, with the help of my amazing two daughters and hubby to at least “see” someone about it. I was utterly convinced that if I ignored it long enough, it would eventually disappear. After MANY appointments with the following medics GP / Dermatologist / Plastic Surgeon / Panel of 7 Consultants plus anybody else who thought it was their ordained right to tell me what to do, I finally ended up at Guys Hospital (Cancer Unit) for MOHS Surgery for what now had been diagnosed as a BCC – a terrifying thought added to my personal living nightmare from which I did not seem to be waking up. The day finally arrived and together my precious daughter and I sat in the waiting room preparing ourselves to hear my name being called to whatever lay behind those closed doors ! Terrifying is an understatement as is fear of the unknown, but my time had come and I could just hope and pray that the perfect person, with the compassion and amazing skills necessary for my need would be assigned to me on that particular day AND SHE SURELY WAS !!!! Dr Clare Kiely and I spent the following 7 hours together that day (there was a change of nursing staff, but my surgeon remained). To say that she was amazing seems to sell her short, she was everything – she spoke me through the entire ordeal and actually treated me like a human being and not just another ignorant patient who could not understand medical terminology and was just there to do her job. I cannot find the correct words to tell her how privileged I felt to have her expertise and experience all to myself for one whole day but I do want her to know how much I appreciated it. I had a cut from the top of my top lip right up my nose and beyond my eyebrows – so it was a massive operation. It is now almost a year to the day and the difference is amazing – I also rejected any plastic surgery offered to me so Clare, using her brilliantly skilled hands, stitched me up herself – definitely one fantastically gifted young lady. If anyone ever finds themselves in a similar situation to mine, I need to let you know that there really is excellent help at Guys Cancer Hospital – I certain found light at the end of a very dark tunnel there by the name of Dr Clare Kiely.
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