A young woman discovered that her birthmark, which was itchy and bleeding, was stage 2 skin cancer.
- A young African-American woman was unaware that her birthmark was actually skin cancer.
- During her exposure to the sun, she did not apply cream and liked to use tanning beds in institutes, two risk factors for melanoma.
- She had surgery and now has to avoid the sun.
Moles and birthmarks aren’t always benign…a 42-year-old Irish-Nigerian woman experienced it. Indeed, she took a melanoma – considered the deadliest form of skin cancer, for a simple birthmark, she says in Insider.
Skin cancer: don’t wait to get tested
More than 10 years before her diagnosis, Ilia J. Smith, then 29, was at a spa with her friend Tracee Blackburn, a physician assistant specializing in dermatology. Noticing a large spot on Ilia’s right hip presented as her birthmark, Tracee advises her to keep an eye on this peculiarity.
In 2020, about a year after giving birth to her daughter, Ilia J. Smith’s birthmark began to itch. A few months later, while she was in the bathroom, she accidentally scratched it with her fingernail, which caused bleeding, can we read in the American magazine.
Worried, she sends a photo to Tracee who advises her to do a biopsy. I’American Academy of Dermatologists recommends having a mole examined by a dermatologist as soon as it starts to itch or bleed.
Ilia made an appointment with a dermatologist who diagnosed her with stage 2B melanoma – the most advanced stage of skin cancer. At this stage, the tumor measures more than 2 mmand up to more than 4 mm thick.
Melanoma: not protecting yourself against UV rays is a risk factor
Melanoma is an uncommon but serious skin cancer if not diagnosed early. Exposure to ultraviolet rays (sun or UV lamp) is the main factor favoring its occurrence, according to health insurance.
In her account, Ilia says: she used UV lamps and when she applied sunscreen, she opted for “a tanning lotion with an SPF of 3 or 7“while living in the Philippines, California and Texas, countries with sunny climates.
In Ilia’s case, the cancer has not spread to the lymph nodes. “Ms Smith only needed the cancerous lesion to be surgically removed. The operation was quite complicated, however, as the oncologist had to cut out 8 x 4 cm of tissue“, recount Insider.
After the operation, she had to have skin cancer screenings every three months for the next two years. Now she only does it every six months.
Skin cancer can affect all ethnicities
Ilia J. Smith is of Irish and Nigerian descent, and says she loved to tan when she was younger: “A lot of my family members are darker skinned – I wanted to look like my family“, she recalled. Moreover, she added, “as an African American, you don’t think about skin cancer“.
However, even if the number of melanoma diagnoses is lower in people of color compared to Caucasians (with 1 in 1,000 patients, compared to 1 in 38 for Caucasians) Insiderthe risk is very real.
Today, Ilia says she has learned that high SPF sunscreens do not completely prevent tanning and can prevent skin damage. “All this time, I could have protected my skin and not fallen into this situation where I can’t even expose myself to the sun“, she said.
She now takes all the necessary precautions like wearing a hat and long-sleeved clothes and using sunscreen of at least 30 SPF to protect herself from the sun. “If you have freckles or moles and regardless of your ethnicity, monitor them and have them examined at least once a year by a board-certified dermatologist”, she advises.
