Rebecca Lamthi
“Little did I know that the best type of skin cancer might have saved my life from the worst type of skin cancer!”
My skin cancer journey started about November of 2019 when I noticed a pearl like spot on my forehead and a pimple that wouldn’t go away on my chest. My last full-body check had been at the end of 2017. In March of 2018, I had finally become pregnant after 7 years of trying so my mind was obviously not on my skin but rather on my pregnancy and taking care of my miracle baby. Therefore, not until I discovered those concerning spots did I think about going in for my yearly check up.
The biopsy on my forehead came back basal cell carcinoma and the one on my chest came back pre-cancerous. I had insisted that the spot on my forehead be biopsied as the nurse practitioner said it’s just a hormonal spot so once we received the results I felt an insecurity with her expertise so I insisted on getting another full-body skin check the next month.
The doctor at that visit found an atypical nevus on my shoulder. The biopsy came back severe atypical which needed an excision surgery. They never told me that severe atypical moles can become melanoma. I had this weird feeling that this was not the office for me.
I transferred to my current dermatologist who educated me about the severity of the diagnosis. I scheduled a full-body exam with the new dermatologist for March. March came and so did Covid, so my appointment was cancelled. The second time they tried to cancel my appointment I told them I really needed to get in for a full body check. At that time, I didn’t know I had melanoma on my back but had this feeling I needed to get checked. I had my full-body exam in April where they found a stage 1 melanoma on my back and a couple mild to moderate atypical moles.
During the next month and half, I noticed a spot that just appeared. At that point, my dermatologist biopsied more spots which were all atypical but one on my leg was moderate to severe so needed excision surgery. So far, I have had 6 full body checks, 17 biopsies, 1 mohs surgery, and 3 excision surgeries in less than a year…. and I was diagnosed with Atypical Nevus Syndrome.
I have always worn sunscreen daily on my face and body when I’ve spent long periods of time in the sun, but if I could go back in tanning time, I would have not used tanning beds and chatted with my family more in-depth about skin cancer history.
So far I truly believe God has been on my side. I was not due for a full body skin exam until December so my story could be a lot different if I wouldn’t have insisted on a full-body check with the new derm.
I have realized that being my own advocate and listening to my intuition may save my life. I’m not due for a full body check till late October, so until then, I have my husband check and we did a skin mapping at the last excision surgery.
I hope whoever is reading this it might educate and inspire you to be your own best advocate and get checked!
