Taking off her make-up, Kerry noticed something unusual…
Swiping a cotton pad over my face, I took off my make-up, ensuring to remove every last trace.
But when I got to my nose,
I noticed a small red spot with pus, on the tip.
Giving it a squeeze, I thought nothing of it.
Only, over the next three weeks, the spot kept reappearing.
I’d pop it, then it would come back.
Confused, I saw my GP. Only, when he examined it, he seemed a little concerned and referred me to a dermatologist.
I couldn’t help but research on Google.
The words skin cancer practically jumped off the webpage.
Surely, it’s just a whitehead,
I told myself.
Besides, I always wore SPF on holiday and although I enjoyed getting a tan, I was never a sun worshipper.
Despite the lockdown restrictions at the time, I was seen quickly.
At hospital, the dermatologist ran the magnifying glass over my nose.
‘This needs to come out now and be sent off to the labs,’ she said.
‘What is it?’ I asked shakily.
‘It could be cancerous cells,’ she explained.
But it’s just a spot, I thought, confused.
Immediately, the doctor scraped off the spot using an instrument called a curette.
I left the hospital with a big plaster on my face and in a bit of a daze.
‘It could be skin cancer,’ I said to Mum when I returned home.
‘Oh, love,’ she said pulling me in for a hug. ‘No news is good news.’
She was right, but naturally, my thoughts turned to my 10-month-old son Albie.
I needed to be OK for him.
Over the next week,
I waited for the results to come in.
But they didn’t.
Weeks passed and I hadn’t heard a thing.
Thankfully, my job as a hairdresser and hair extension specialist was a distraction.
I called the hospital every week.
‘There could be a delay because of Covid,’ the receptionist said.
In the meantime, the black hole that had been left on my nose had healed up brilliantly.
Eventually, nine months on,
I received a letter.
It stated that I had basal cell carcinoma, which was a type of skin cancer, but it was benign and therefore hadn’t spread.
‘Oh, thank goodness,’ I exclaimed.
But the realisation that I had cancer was hard to swallow.
Although I knew that one in two people got skin cancer,
I didn’t realise it could look
like a little spot.
As a result, I became more skin conscious.
I put on SPF 50 every day and started wearing a hat whenever it was hot.
Three years after my diagnosis, I noticed a spot on the side of my nose.
Not thinking much of it,
I popped it, but it wouldn’t stop bleeding.
Two weeks later, it was still there, so I called my GP.
I was referred to the hospital and I was shocked to learn that I had skin cancer again.
After having the second spot removed, I was left with a hole on the side of my nose again.
Only this time it was much bigger.
I felt really self-conscious.
Thankfully, my results showed it was benign and it’s since healed up nicely.
My diagnoses inspired me to do a course in trichology – the study of the hair and scalp.
It’s taught me lots about scalp health and skin cancers.
I have now opened up my own salon and if I notice anything suspicious on a client’s scalp, I’ll refer them to a dermatologist.
Never did I think skin cancer could appear as a regular looking spot. So I’m doing everything I can to encourage skin safety.
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