Neil, 73, Kilkenny – skin cancer diagnosis and facial surgery

Neil had his appointment, skin cancer diagnosis and facial surgery with DermView within the same time frame it took to get an appointment letter from the regional hospital.

I am 73 years old. On June 11, I went to see a locum doctor and he told me I had an infection on my face and gave me some cream to rub on.

On July 29th, I still wasn’t particularly happy so I went to my own GP who found a growth on my face and referred me to a consultant in the regional hospital. I had private health insurance and I anticipated I would at least get a date for an initial appointment in a few weeks.

Four weeks later, I still hadn’t heard anything about an appointment and I was getting anxious because I was experiencing a lot of pain. My son saw an advertisement on Facebook and suggested I should try DermView.

I contacted DermView and got an appointment three days later to go to their clinic in Waterford City for a scan on August 25. While I was in the clinic I felt very much at ease because the staff implemented all of the Covid-19 procedures.

Physical distancing was maintained and there was strict infection control and attention to cleanliness. All the staff were very helpful and pleasant in the clinic and informed me what was going to happen. I felt very comfortable having the scan. The staff took standard photographs of my face and ones with a special camera. They can see the blood vessels underneath with the photographs taken from the special camera.

On August 31st, consultant dermatologist, Dr Rupert Barry sent me a password protected email with his diagnosis, having review the scan. I was given a code to ensure I was the only person who could open the email. Dr Barry explained very clearly I had an aggressive large facial skin cancer and needed to be treated as an urgent case.

Four weeks to the day I contacted DermView, Dr Barry removed the skin cancer in St James’s Hospital, Dublin, which gave me great relief. On October 1, I went back to the practice nurse in my local GP surgery and she took the stitches out.

Four days later, I got a letter from a consultant in the regional hospital confirming a private consultation on October 12th, but wouldn’t have involved a procedure to remove the cancer.

As a follow on to Dr Barry’s good work, I started radiation treatment in St Luke’s Hospital Dublin on November 2nd to prevent the cancer from coming back, which is even better. I have a scar from my jaw to near my eye. I wish that I had known about Dermview earlier, as I might have had a smaller scar and maybe not have needed radiation.

If I hadn’t the opportunity to avail of the DermView service, I could be dead, that is the how I feel about it. I have nothing but gratitude to DermView for seeing me so quickly.

I would recommend DermView 100% to other patients. Overall, staff provide a superb service.

It is great to have a service where a consultant dermatologist can view your scan so quickly and determine whether or not it is an urgent case.

Before I contacted DermView, waiting and not known what is happening was terrible. I would wake up at 4am in the morning wondering why I wasn’t hearing anything about an appointment.

Once you get a date for an appointment, you can prepare for it. When you don’t know what is happening, you are completely in the dark.