Jamie Sutcliffe has always been an active guy, with hobbies such as cycling and running, but he has never been one for sunbathing or foreign holidays. That’s why he was surprised to discover that he had melanoma skin cancer at only 25 years of age. Here he tells his story.
I went to the doctors around March 2001, primarily about a lump on my back. Whilst there I pointed out a mole on my arm that had changed shape and size. If it wasn’t for the lump on my back, which turned out to be a blocked pore, I wouldn’t have gone to the doctors at that point as I had assumed it was some sort of birth mark! They unblocked the pore and sent me to Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield – Ashton Centre to get the mole checked.
The mole was checked and I was booked for an urgent lesion removal from my arm (removing the mole and some surrounding tissue). This was tested and the mole was found to be a malignant melanoma (skin cancer). The next treatment stage was to remove an additional lesion, and this was tested too. Thankfully this was found to be cancer free.
I attended for regular visits to be checked for the first couple of years. This reduced again at five years and at eight years I was discharged.
At the time, I was really shocked to learn I had skin cancer. I was extremely thankful that it had been caught early and that I had a good prognosis. Even that being the case, I was very worried when I waited for the results for the second lesion test.
I would advise anyone who is newly diagnosed to remain as positive as possible. In my case I was very lucky and the outcome could have been very different had I not got it checked early.
Following my diagnosis, I am careful with my exposure to the sun and also advise others to be careful. I was very proactive with applying sun cream to my children when they were little and badger them to apply it now they’re older, especially when abroad. I tend to look after myself better and exercise more regularly.