On the 10th of August my mother sent me to a private dermatologist about a mole on my back that my mother did not like the look of. It was only supposed to be a consultation. There was a few questions before he looked at it, things like is it sore, does it bleed, causing you any pain at all and when my answer was no to every single one you could see this puzzled look on his face as he tried to figure out why the hell I was there. So off I went, sat on the bed, tshirt pulled up like a scarf around my neck, stomach rolls on show and that was when he said “yes, there are some changes and it needs to come off” so I had it off that day at 5pm to which he sent me on my way and said results should be back in a week, please try not to worry. So of course I spent the whole week crying, hardly eating, ringing him constantly just in case he had the results and couldn’t get through.

On the 17th of August at 2:30pm my Doctor rung me. “The results are back and its turned out to be Melanoma.” Those few words hit the wind out of me, my legs turned to jelly and my hands were shaking uncontrollably. He told me that although it was cancer that its actually good news. Because we caught it so early, the earliest it could of been caught, it was all gone. He had taken every last bit of it away. He said that they measure the cancer by the Murlow thickness and that mine was only 0.26mil which apparently is the best news you could want with this situation. It means that I wouldn’t need any scans, blood tests, chemo or anything that usually comes with this terrifying word. All I would need is the 1cm cut off from the margin around my scar and have regular check ups with him.

The reason I am raising awareness is that at 23 I had melanoma and if I had left it, my outcome could of been terrible. My mole wasn’t sore, wasn’t bleeding, wasn’t causing any discomfort. I wasn’t stupid in the sun, always wore suntan lotion and I’ve never used a sunbed. So if it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone. So to whoever is reading this, please look after your body. You only have one life so do everything you possibly can to ensure its a long and happy one.

Checking your skin is just as important as checking your breasts, having a smear and for you boys, the importance is just the same.

Cancer doesn’t having a type. It chooses who it likes, it chose me and I am 23, relatively healthy with a toddler to look after so try and not only prevent it but also catch it as early as possible. Just be vigilant with your bodies and if something doesn’t seem right, don’t push it at the back of your minds, book that doctors appointment and be seen, its your life that you’re risking.

Please follow my justgiving page of fundraising activities to support a charity very close to my heart.