Hi Sally, once diagnosed anyone would like to get it off as soon as possible. There is no standard wait time. If you want to get a second opinion, you could use the time. But invariably, irrespective of the reasons it usually takes 2-3 weeks to go under knife. My father was diagnosed SCC on 1st Feb 2009 and he had his surgery on 16th Feb. It takes a while for the news of diagnosis to sink in. There is denial first, then panic and finally admission and then you actually start planning next course of action. Ours included getting opinion for CCC and finally opting for treatment at CCC. CCC doctor wanted to operate him as soon as possible but we needed time to prepare and ofcourse there was wait period at CCC.

Having said all this, if you do require adjuvant radiotherapy/chemoradiotherapy post the surgery, just ensure that treatment is completed in < 100 days.