Meet Carrie
Carrie first contacted Melanoma-Me back in 2017 following her melanoma diagnosis.
Although Carrie has blue eyes, she has naturally dark hair and skin and tans easily. Carrie’s life was saved by the vigilance of her hairdresser as the melanoma was in a place that she could never have seen for herself.
After noticing the lesion, Carries hairdresser made her aware of it so that it could be examined by a GP.
The suspicious lesion was discovered on the top of Carrie’s ear. It was in a place that is not accessible when looking in the mirror. On her hairdressers advice, Carrie visited her GP who on examination was not too concerned, because it did not fit in with the ABCDE guide. The GP took a photograph of the lesion and invited Carrie to return in 6 months for comparison.
However, at Carrie’s next hairdressing appointment five weeks later, her hairdresser flagged up the lesion again and recommended Carrie get a second opinion. Carrie, a 37-year-old mum of two – went back to the GP in March 2017, who agreed to refer her to dermatology for a specialist to look at the lesion, but insisted that this was purely for reassurance purposes.
The lesion did not tick the boxes for the ABCDE guide that medical professionals use when assessing suspect lesions, but thankfully the dermatologist agreed that the mole needed biopsied and booked Carrie in for minor surgery in May 2017.
The skin specialist agreed that this lesion should be excised and Carrie subsequently had a biopsy taken from her ear.
*A biopsy on the skin usually is a section of skin removed using guidelines.
For Carrie it meant that a small section of her ear was removed including cartilage.
Thinking back to the ABCDE model of melanoma, Carrie’s melanoma is not ticking all of the boxes. It is symmetrical, has clear defined borders and has one distinct colour. It’s a great example of types of melanomas that can be overlooked easily, even though they are standing out.
Carrie was then diagnosed with malignant melanoma.
The next stage of treatment was a wide local excision (WLE).
For most people this means a wide and deep eye shape excision. For Carrie it meant a third of her ear had to be amputated.
