Jo cared for her mum, Ann, who passed away from melanoma in December 2020. Her mum had melanoma which had spread to her lung and her brain. As an only child, they shared a particularly strong bond.
The first melanoma diagnosis was a shock as I felt young and invincible. My skin doctor booked me in with a plastic surgeon for the following day, and I had a wide local excision with a skin graft.
Jen’s baby was 10 days old when her doctor rang to tell her that she had stage 3 melanoma. Nine months later she noticed some lumps in her groin and found out she had stage 4 melanoma.
In August 2021 I noticed something that looked like a blister or a pimple on top of my foot. A GP advised it was nothing to worry about. However, I went back a month later to cut it off and a week after that he informed me that it was Melanoma stage 1, 0.8mm thick.
My treatment was pretty good really. (If you think a long scar on your neck that makes you look like an extra in a pirate movie is a good thing!) Seriously though, that was to clear the margins and it has healed pretty well.
I have overcome some seemingly insurmountable odds and hurdles both physically and psychologically and achieved the outcome that every patient hopes to hear but sadly not everyone does...For me, it came at a time when I didn’t even think that may be possible.
