I’m going to walk (or run- here’s hoping!) 5km every day in March to raise funds for Melanoma research. My dad was very lucky to survive a melanoma diagnosis, however I’ve had close friends whose parents were sadly taken by this devastating diagnosis. My friend Ash Piek is one of the ambassadors for this foundation and she lost her beautiful Mum Jann Wright to melanoma last year.
I’ve added a photo of my Dad Ray. This photo was taken probably an hour before I spotted his melanoma.
Ray and I are both optometrists. Through all my early years working in his practice and during my training, Dad always called me into his room, whenever he detected a skin cancer on a patient’s eyelid or around their eyes. It was to the point where it was almost relentless- ‘Aims, come into my room- this is a BCC’, ‘Aims, see this, this looks like it may be a SCC’. Considering people think we just make glasses, from what Dad showed me, we really had a role that had far more responsibility.
In July 2016, while holidaying in Bali and pregnant with my first child, Dad was lying on a sun lounge in the shade having been sunburnt the previous day. I hadn’t seen him sunburnt in years, since he had already had so many BCCs and SCCs removed from his skin. He rolled over to lie on his stomach and as I walked past, I spotted a fuschia pink spot on his back right shoulder. Straight away, I knew it was odd. I flagged it with him and to his credit, he booked in with his dermatologist (who he was already seeing every 6 months) the week he got home. Turned out it, right next to that spot was a stage 3 melanoma. Due to early detection and prompt action, he survived, but I truly believe it was a stroke of luck that I saw it when I did.
For those who have gone through the experience of having melanoma, or having a loved one diagnosed with melanoma, it was one of the worst times of my life. And we were the lucky ones.
Please support this worthy cause.
Amazing job Amy xxx