Hello excellent people,

 

Please help me give back the the Melanoma Institute. 

A few weeks ago I finally got around to getting that beauty spot checked. It's been there since birth. Mum told me it made me look as cool as Cindy Crawford so I loved it. 

In the last couple of years, it started to change significantly. Looking in the mirror straight on I couldn't see it, but people who could would urge me to get a check. When I saw it in a candid photo caught side on I thought, yes, I should get that looked at. 

But amid many other health issues, I put it to the end of the list. Finally feeling like the worst of my health problems were behind me, I got it checked at a skin care specialist GP on 13 February. He advised me to have it removed urgently. The fantastic melanoma surgeon Dr Dina Saks then removed it. Three days later I recieved a call from my superstar GP Dr Zaina Cheema - pathology confirmed that it was in fact skin cancer, the worst type of skin cancer, melaoma, and that it had unfortunately spread below the dermis and into the danger zone. Straight away I was given an excellent booklet, sponsored by the Melanoma Institute with everything I needed to know. 

I was referred to the Melanoma Institute where I immediately felt like I was in safe hands. Professor Andrew Spillane presented me with all of the information I needed to make informed decisions about the next steps. I had another surgery yesterday and will have the results from a biopsy of my nodes hopefully next week. Whatever happens next, I know I will be receiving the very best care. 

So, while I (slightly anxiously) wait for my results, I am taking part in the Melanoma March on Sunday morning.

I know it is an ambitious goal so late in the day, but I hope to raise $5000. One thousand dollars for each month I was late for my annual skin check. If I had been up to date, maybe only a small excision would have been required, and it wouldn't have pushed through the first layer of skin. 

I hope this story can remind at least one person not to kick the can down the road, because get it early, and it's a small cut in a doctor's office. If you don't get there in time it's surgeries and biopsies. 

Please support my efforts by making a secure donation. All funds raised will go towards Melanoma Institute Australia’s life-saving research. I would also really appreciate it if you could share my page or comment so more people know about it.  

 

Click 'Donate Now' to make a secure online donation. 

 

Thanks so much for your support!

Slip, slop, slap & slay xo