Melanoma


Posted on May 2nd, by staff in Skincare, Treatments. 2 comments

Melanoma

Melanoma is the most deadliest form of skin cancer. 40-year-old Pam Bush from Victoria, B.C., got her first scare at age 37. Here, she shares her experience and what she faces today.

Pam Bush

Since I have a strong family history of Melanoma, I kind of actually felt safer than others in a strange way. Safer than those who didn’t know that a mole could kill you.  I knew what to do, knew what to look for, I got regular skin checks from the dermatologist, wore sunscreen, sat in the shade, etc, etc.  I knew I would probably get a melanoma at some point, just a matter of when. But I also knew that if I caught it early, all would be fine, no big deal.  I had my first mole removed at 14 and in the next 23 years I had so many moles removed, it was kind of routine.  As routine as having parts of your skin removed can be anyway. I knew my family history meant I was more than likely gonna get it “sometime”.  Then my “sometime” came.

It was a thin superficial spreading melanoma that left me with a 3 inch by 1 1/2 inch wide scar on my lower back. It was scary, it was hard, but I made it through. My “sometime” had come and gone and I felt kind of safe again. I was upped to two visits a year at the dermatologist. If anymore moles surface, I am in good hands.

But then the phone call came; It’s another melanoma.

“What stage is it doctor?” 

“We won’t know till we test your lymph nodes”

…lymph nodes! What?!

I didn’t feel safe anymore.

You see, the thing with knowledge is, it needs to be accurate, and more is better. We should have known the beast we face. I should have respected it more. For a family full of melanoma, we should have known!  We always thought raised moles were okif you caught it early, all would be well. We didn’t know there were different kinds of melanoma.  We didn’t know that nodular melanoma grows faster than the others and straight down. How did I get caught with a 2.45 mm deep melanoma, me, the one who knew what to do?!

I know now that any stage can progress to stage 3 or 4 without advance notice. I also now know that I need to advocate for my own body, not to trust in the doctor so fully.  He can make mistakes too.

I now know this: If a mole grows, itches, bleeds, or just doesn’t feel right…when in doubt, just cut it out! I would have had that nobby little growing thing on my arm cut off so much earlier if I was listening to my “spidey senses”. But I waited, and now I am in limbo-land, wondering if one day, a cough will turn into a lung metastasis or a headache into a brain tumor.

I now have a third melanoma. It is thin; it is superficial spreading melanoma again. The average person has a 6% chance of getting a second melanoma. I have had 3 in 3 years. I guess I have blown that statistic out of the water. So I am feeling on the short end of the statistics right now. My 80% chance of survival over the next 4 years, and 60% chance in 9 years, seems a little slimmer.

In Round 3 of my battles with Melanoma, I have decided to no longer sit on my hands. Its just too much. I need to let it out of my “skin”. Be an active participant in this cancer thing, instead of just hoping it will stand at the doorway and leave me alone. And so I am writing my story, to my friends on Facebook, and on a blog. I am so amazed at how it has changed my mood. When you feel forward movement it lifts your spirits. In the weeks since I started writing, I have gone from depression to vibrancy.

FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW!
  • If not caught early, melanoma is known to be the most deadly of all skin cancers. Melanoma can also occur in the eye, the mucous membranes or even underneath fingernails and toenail
  • Melanoma is the fastest growing cancer worldwide and in the US.
  • The American Cancer Society estimates that the risk of developing invasive melanoma is a 1 in 50 chance of developing melanoma throughout your lifetime.
  • Melanoma primarily affects individuals in the prime years of life, is the most common form of cancer for young adults 25-29 years old and the second most common cancer in adolescents and young adults 15-29 years old.
  • The incidence of people under 30 developing melanoma is increasing faster than any other demographic group, soaring by 50 percent in young women since 1980.
Source: the Melanoma Research Foundation





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