We asked our Facebook followers to tell us about their experiences with skin cancer. Here are some of the stories they shared.
Silvi Moslih About eight years ago I noticed a spot on my leg while I was shaving. It was small, raised and black almost. I went to my GP and he wasn't too concerned and told me not to worry about it. But I pushed it and said that I was worried and wanted a second opinion. So he referred me to a specialist who also told me that it was nothing, but to be sure, he'd biopsy it. I went home and less than an hour later, I got a call from the doctor telling me that it was a stage 1 melanoma and that I needed further surgery to remove more and make sure that it was all removed. Don't just go with what your doctor says—go with your gut feeling. If I didn't, I wouldn't be telling you this.
Mary Whitney GuzikI noticed a spot on my arm for a couple years. I mentioned it to people and everyone said "Nah, your fine.” I even mentioned it to my primary doctor, who looked at it and said, "Nothing to worry about. You’re getting older (I was 50) and we get age spots.” Thankfully, I kept Googling and finally made an appointment with a dermatologist. They biopsied it and I got that call—it was cancer. Melanoma. Trust your gut. By the way, I spent my whole life thinking, "it won't happen to me,” and I used to use tanning beds EVERY summer!
Karen Blankenship I have had basal cell skin cancer twice. It's been almost 10 years since they've found any additional spots, so I am hoping I'm clear for good now. The first spot I left on my shoulder for almost a year. It ended up being a much larger surgery than it needed to be, seven internal stitches and seven external stitches. The next spot, found about five years later, was on my nose. My dermatologist performed Mohs surgery [which Preventionbreaks down,here] and it turned out really well—only a small scar. I get a full screen every year and wear sunscreen every day.
Marissa Hill Oneal I've had well over 100 moles removed. Three melanomas, basal cell carcinoma, sarcoma, all removed. The scariest one was on the middle of my neck. Nothing like laying there while your throat is cut—weird feeling. I’m thankful though.
Sherry Brandon I've had basal cell carcinoma on my face twice, with Mohs surgery two times. Not fun! I am very fair skinned and used to get sunburns on purpose trying to get a tan. I’m going tomorrow to have another spot rechecked; it was just scraped off. If I had only known to always apply sunscreen.
Donna McDowell As a child, sunscreen did not exist. I had some blistering sunburns despite my mother’s best efforts to protect me from the sun. I then chose to become a lifeguard as my summer job through high school and college. I got my first basal cell carcinoma at age 30. I’ve also had squamous cell carcinoma. I keep close tabs on my skin now and have been lucky to not have too many problems.
Deeann Vanden Brink-Bylsma I have had four spots of basal cell carcinoma removed from my shoulders. Each had developed at different times and were removed separately. All were very small (about the size of a pencil eraser) and were a pink that turned red and just wouldn't heal. I'm a faithful believer in sunscreen now. Never used it when I was a kid. In fact, when I was a teen, I would sun tan using baby oil. Bad idea!
Cindy Barnes I got routine body exams and found melanoma on the top of my wrist. I had a football-like chunk taken from the area. I now get checked every three months, and I never leave the dermatologists office without another mole/freckle removed. Thank God they found the first one!
Lisa Montgomery Anzalone For most of my life, I never really protected myself from the sun. And then almost three years ago, I noticed an area on my nose that I thought was just a pimple but it wouldn't go away. So I went to a dermatologist and he determined that it was skin cancer (basal cell carcinoma). I had to have Mohs surgery. Now, I never leave home without being protected from the sun. Hindsight is always 20/20.
Kay Iqbal I was diagnosed with malignant melanoma in 2012 at about a 3.7 rating. I had a mole on my back, bigger than an eraser under right shoulder, that started to bleed. I had no pain. By the time I had a biopsy,it had spread across the skin to one Lymph node under my left arm and two lymph nodes under my right arm. I had the cancer removed off my back and 21 lymph nodes from each arm. Then I had four infusions of a new chemotherapy drug called yervoy. It made me very sick and I am glad I am a trained CNA. My last CT was cancer-free.
Sara Manson I have had basal cell every year since 2005. My first spot was, and has been, my worst. I went through a 4-hour Mohs surgery at OSU's the James Hospital. Two days later I had to see a plastic surgeon to close it up. It took many stitches in and out and has been the worst scar ever! I'm still self conscious when wearing tank tops or strap shirts. I go every six months to have an all-over body scan; I just had one and will be headed back in June for a spot to be removed. My body feels like a cutting board at times, but, after that first one, I'm glad that my doctor catches them early for me!
Annamarie Metzger Stolzenburg In 1997, I found out I had stage 4 melanoma. They think the mole inverted to a lymph node on my neck. They never found the original mole. I had a radical neck dissection and a year of treatment. I've been cancer-free since. I loved a tan and lived at the swimming pool as a kid. Then I used tanning beds when I was older. I now choose what outdoor actives are important and use sun block.
Marie Peloquin I had malignant melanoma in 1991. After an initial removal of skin growth, I needed surgery. It was called Z-plasty, I think. The procedure removed a V-shaped area of surrounding tissue to get all cancerous layers of skin. After 23 years this month, I am cancer-free and much more cautious when out in the sun. When I was a teen, I suffered sun poisoning from the most severe burn in my life. I fell asleep on my first day laying in the sun for my summer tan. Ended up passing out, running a fever, and unable to bend my arms and legs or wear anything but an oversized nightgown. I worked hard to prevent the same mistake with my children and was successful.
Linda Brett My sister is a crossing supervisor so she’s out in the sun a lot. One of the ladies [at school] noticed a mole on the back of her shoulder had changed (as she always wore sleeveless tops). Thank goodness that lady noticed the change and told her. She went to the doctor, and the next day she was referred to a specialist. She had it cut out. For a little mole, they took a chunk out and left a doozy of a scar. But thank God she’s all clear now. And stays out of the sun!
Laurie Jackson I was diagnosed in 1998 with basal cell carcinoma on the inside corner of my right eye. At first they thought it had grown into my tear duct, but when they went in to do surgery, it had grown around the tear duct and into my nasal passage. I had to have part of it removed and also a significant amount by my eye. The skin graft from my eyelid matched great and it healed great. Since then, I have been an advocate for safe tanning and opened my own custom spray tanning salon last July. Now I get to help others prevent skin cancer!
Donna Sowul I've had malignant melanoma twice; the second one was 21 years after the first, and that was after faithfully using sunblock, and avoiding the sun as much as possible, since I am now terrified of the sun. I go for skin exams twice a year, and even had full-body medical photos taken to compare moles at each visit. I have also had seven basal cell cancers removed from my face and ear; four of them within months. By the way, I have found almost every cancer myself [using the ABCDE's of skin cancer as a guide], since I am a fanatic about checking my skin. For that reason, all my cancers were caught early. The risk of melanoma never goes away for me.
Bonnie Johnson Danard I had malignant melanoma on the upper back of my left arm in 2007. It was noticed by a student doctor (thankfully), and although my GP felt strongly that it was nothing more than hyper pigmentation, he did reluctantly excise it and send it for testing. Test results got lost in the system (i.e., mess on his desk) and I was never called with results thereby assuming everything was fine. I had to go to the doctor about another issue months later, only to have him stumble across the results in my file—lo and behold, it was cancerous! Took an excruciating wait to get in to see a dermatologist, but once in with her, she's been great. She determined that it was caught early enough that it had not spread, and the crude excision my GP did got the entire thing. I saw her every three months for the first three years, then six months and now once a year as a follow-up. I am of fair Irish and Icelandic decent and have many assorted freckles scattered all over my body, so she checks me over VERY thoroughly. A year ago she was concerned about the initial melanoma site again and sent me to a surgeon to have a larger area excised and tested. Thankfully, it came back negative. I am quite certain that this one was a result of childhood years in the late 60's and early 70's (when no one knew about sunscreen) spending summers on the beach in the sun, as I have never been one for tanning or tanning beds (even as a teenager) because I just don't tan.
Court K I was diagnosed with malignant melanoma in August 2011. I was 31 years old with a husband and two young children. I had surgery to remove the mole and a lot of surrounding tissue and then saw a plastic surgeon to close up the area on my right thigh. I go to the dermatologist every 3 to 4 months for full-body checks and have chest x-rays and blood work done annually. I am thankful mine was caught early, but I will be dealing with skin cancer for the rest of my life. Early detection is key!
Shelley Urban Erhart I have had two bouts with basal cell carcinoma. I have had two [moles] surgically removed and currently have another place that needs attention, but I don't have health insurance and am waiting to get some of my doctor bills down until I get this one taken care of. I have tanned for the last 25 years and am still tanning.
Whitney Heinrich In 2010, melanoma was found in a mole on my leg. I was 25 years old. I know it was due to using tanning beds. I wish people knew the dangers of them. I'm always extremely careful now when in the sun and wear SPF everyday.
Sean McGreal With my Irish heritage, we have extremely fair skin and skin cancer runs in the family. Now it's SPF 35 even on a cloudy day and visits to the dermatologist every three months.
Gina Letizio I had a melanoma after years of using tanning beds and using minimal SPF.
Ann Hennessy Beston My husband was diagnosed with stage four melanoma in 2000 and was given 6 to 9 months to live (it was in his lung when he was diagnosed). There’s been no evidence of disease for 13 years. He had three surgeries, went through a clinical trial, chemotherapy, and leukine injections. His story is miraculous and he helps others nowadays as an advocate. He loves to tell his story to offer others who were given a grim diagnosis some hope.
Linda Karwacki I’ve had two cases of basal cell carcinoma: one on my chest and one on the side of my nose. The one on my nose was removed using Mohs surgery.
Shannon CallahanI had it on my nose last year. It wasn’t very big or bad but it left scar tissue.
Janice Tindle I had pre-skin cancer on my lip. I didn’t even know it. It was a piece of lip that a dental tech had caught in a dental dam! Horrid pain! I was told there was nothing that could be done to fix it. I had five doctors look at it. Then one day I saw a plastic surgeon to remove a small tumor from my forehead and asked him if he could fix my lip. First, he said no. Then took a second look. He removed the piece and biopsied the skin. It was sun damaged! I did a two-week course of cream and now it is all clear. It was on its way to cancer—he saved me!
Mandi Harris Two years ago I was diagnosed with stage three melanoma. I was 24 and had been married three months. The spot was on the curve of my butt, was never black, always flesh colored. What scared me was the rate at which it grew in length and width. My specialist said it was congenital and that it decided to come about when it did. I've never been much of a tanner, aside from before prom nine years ago; however, I am now, more so than ever before, a huge advocate for paraben-free sunscreen. I had the melanoma and centinal right groin lymph node removal February 9, 2012. February 16 I was officially diagnosed as stage three. It had already spread to my lymph nodes. I was devastated. On March 1, I had 35 lymph nodes removed from my right groin, and spent three weeks using a walker with JP drains in my abdomen and living at my mother's because I couldn't get up the stairs to our apartment. I had my port placed April 12 and began everyday Interferon chemo April 23 until May 25. Then I learned how to administer the weekly Sylatron chemo shots to myself on June 1. I had to do weekly shots until April 5, 2013. It was the hardest year of my life. On April 25, 2013, I had a lipoma removal. I got severely sick with cellulitis in my right side thigh, hip, and butt in August 2013. I was admitted to the hospital for four days and had heavy antibiotics for 10 days after I was discharged. Cellulitis is not my friend. It decided to come back again August 31, the day before my birthday. And again October 4, my mother's birthday. Finally, I saw an infection specialist and was on daily antibiotics for a month. I am proud to say the cellulitis has not returned. I started lymphedema therapy in November 2013, as a result I now can walk without a limp! Best news: I am cancer-free. I have "graduated" to seeing my specialist every six months now. And in even more exciting news, my port has been removed! I am so excited. Through all of this I have gained so much insight into myself and I don't take anything for granted.
