SKIN CANCER SCARE

Skin Cancer Scare

WARNING: THIS POST IS OF A GRAPHIC NATURE!

Last month, my partner noticed that a ‘freckle’ of mine had turned black, fallen off and grown back again. He insisted that I get it checked out. I made an appointment with Hunter Valley Skin Cancer Clinic. The appointment was really thorough. The doctor had me stand in my underwear and checked every single freckle on my body. I would highly recommend that everyone that reads this post at the very least has a skin check yearly. A skin cancer scare is just that – scary and totally not worth the tan – just fake it! I don’t spend a lot of time in the sun. I don’t bake on the beach every weekend. I’m lucky to hit the beach once a month!

Unfortunately for me, the doctor agreed that the ‘freckle’ needed to come off immediately.

Less than a week later, I found myself, laying on a table waiting to have it cut out under local anaesthetic.  The process on the day took around 30 minutes. I ended up with 6 stitches (pictured below) and a two week wait to find out exactly what had been cut out of me.

The point of this post is not to shock/gross anyone out or to start a pity party but to make people more aware of what can happen. As cliche as it sounds, your body is a temple that should be respected. This wasn’t my first time at this rodeo, you can read my previous post here. I was lucky the last time I had a punch biopsy. This time, I was told they got everything so I’m completely fine – lucky once more.

Every day, the sun is out, even behind the clouds is another day you should be wearing sun screen, even if you decide you don’t want too or forget/don’t have time everyday, you should at the very least be getting yourself checked out regularly and noting any suspicious growths on your body. Skin cancer just isn’t even worth it. There are apps that can help you with tracking your body too or just take photos and make notes of what part of your body the photo is of if you really don’t want to make an appointment with a professional.

If you live in Australia, you can also claim a portion of your skin clinic check back on Medicare.

Scroll down to see some pictures if you think you can handle it!