Ulrika discovers a sore on her temple that won't go away. She goes to her GP and is referred to the local hospital, which, because of long waiting times, has to refer her on to a private skin clinic.
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June 2016 · Operation 1
Referred to a private skin clinic. Basal cell carcinoma type 2 and 3.
The cancer is not completely removed.
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Wait: 2 months
August 2016 · Operation 2
The same private skin clinic.
Still not all the cancer gone – she is advised to wait.
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Wait: 26 months
October 2018 · Operation 3
Hospital – operation and skin graft.
Still not gone – referred to a new hospital.
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Wait: 5 months
March 2019 · Operation 4
New hospital – another operation.
Still not gone – a new appointment.
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Wait: 1 month
April 2019 · Operation 5
Hospital – operation and a larger skin graft.
Still cancer.
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Wait: 2 weeks
May 2019 · Operation 6
Mohs surgery at Hudcancerkliniken.
All the cancer gone on the same day.
Five operations
Operations 1 and 2: Ulrika is diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma type 2 and 3 and has an operation in June 2016. Unfortunately, not all of the cancer is removed. The skin clinic operates once more, but again does not get it all. The skin clinic advises Ulrika to wait before doing anything more, to see how it develops. Later in the course of her treatment, Ulrika learns that you never wait to operate on this type of basal cell carcinoma.
Operation 3: Two years later, Ulrika has another operation and has skin transplanted from her forearm, as the damage is quite extensive. The result is not very pretty, and the skin cancer is still not gone. So Ulrika is offered another operation at a different hospital. She accepts, hoping to get rid of the cancer and that the first, less successful operation can be corrected.
Operation 4: Ulrika has another operation, at a new hospital. This time, no skin is transplanted. Once again she gets bad news – the cancer is still not all gone, and she is given a new date for an operation.
Operation 5: Ulrika has her fifth operation. This time an even larger skin graft is carried out, because the damage has become much more extensive. 15 cm of skin is taken from her other forearm to cover the first, failed graft. Unfortunately, there is still basal cell carcinoma closest to the eye.
Ulrika is in despair and hardly knows what to do. The cancer is very close to her eye, and she doesn't dare wait for another operation for fear that it will spread even closer to the eye. It's a difficult period – she feels constantly anxious that the skin cancer won't be removed and that it will get even worse.
Finally, Mohs surgery
Fortunately, Ulrika manages to persuade the hospital to let her have Mohs surgery. She has read about the method online – no doctor has told her that it exists. Ulrika is then referred to a new hospital that performs Mohs surgery, but the waiting time is very long. She starts searching online for others who can perform Mohs surgery. She finds Hudcancerkliniken in Stockholm, gets in touch and gets an appointment a few weeks later.
Operation 6: Ulrika is treated at Hudcancerkliniken in Stockholm, and she is very happy with the treatment she has received. She feels incredibly well received and finally has a sense of being taken seriously. All the skin cancer is checked in the laboratory and removed the same day.
“I was very well received at the clinic and had the feeling that they really took me seriously. They were very understanding and could relate to how hard the whole process had been.”
Ulrika says that her result would have been completely different if Mohs surgery had been the treatment from the start: “If I had known from the beginning that Mohs surgery existed, it would never have come to this.” She hopes that Mohs surgery will soon become the standard method for removing basal cell carcinoma on the face.
But the cancer is gone, and that's the most important thing. Ulrika wants to share her story so that others don't end up in the same situation: “Everyone should know that Mohs surgery is available, so they don't have to wait too long and get ugly scars like me. If Mohs surgery had been the first treatment I received, I wouldn't look the way I do today at all. It's also important to save people's time and resources, which in my situation have been wasted on five demanding operations,” Ulrika concludes.
At Skin Cancer Clinic, the waiting time is short, the cancer is completely removed in one operation, and the method is tissue-sparing. When operating on the face, it is very important to remove as little skin as possible.
