Mole Aware | Melanoma Mole

Can anyone share their melanoma experience?

ie: How you discovered the melanoma or skin cancer, and what happened next – what the treatment was.
Also, were there any risk factors that could have been avoided? Sunburn, smoking, etc etc…

I was 12 when i was diagnosed, i’m 14 now. Being diagnosed at 12 is very rare so therefore it’s automatically really dangerous. The first time I went to a doctor they said that I was going to be fine and not to worry about it cause I was young. The 2nd doctor I went to said the same thing. Finally the third doctor wanted it to be removed and checked for cancer. A week later I was diagnosed. I had my first surgery a month later (i sshould have done it earlier but i didn’t want to) and they cut out my skin down to the muscle (it was on my back) and a couple inched around the cancer. When that came back still positive they cut off even more cancer and skin. Thankfully they came back saying that I didn’t need another treatment, because that would be chemo. I have pale skin and red hair so I was going to get skin cancer at one point in my life (red-heads are at a higher risk and so are people w/ pale skin) it just sucked to get it so young. I should have used more sunblock and protected myself from the sun, but i can’t change that now. smoking doesn’t cause skin cancer though.. at least i’ve never heard that one before and I’m a pro on skin cancer. Now i know that the cancer will come back more serious then the last.. it will most likely do this until i die. Do you know how hard it is to be a 12 yr old and be expected to live your life normally knowing you are going to die?! i’m 14 now and it still hasn’t come back which is good. I get regural skin checkups every few months.. which are very akward but i have to do it. I hope i helped! good luck!

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