Margaret's Story
As I grew up, I had a number of severe sunburns where my skin blistered, even on the top of my feet. This continued until I was a young adult, and I still didn’t use sun cream or wear a hat!
In the mid 1980s, I was pregnant with my son and feeling well. Four months before my son was born, my husband noticed that a large dark mole on my upper left arm had changed.
I had always had the mole: it was about 1cm in diameter, but it had now changed colour from a uniform dark brown – it was irregular in shape and looked like someone had crushed a mulberry on it and it also had a bump underneath.
I went to see my local GP and he removed the mole in his surgery immediately. I don’t remember feeling any concern then but when he phoned a week later and told me I’d had a “bad mole”, I was very frightened and tearful. I had no idea what a melanoma was or what it meant and thought that cancer only happened to old people and not someone aged 26! Being pregnant I was very anxious about the surgery and its effect on my son. My friends and family didn’t know what to say to me and I felt terribly alone.
The mole was removed under general anaesthetic and involved a large skin graft taken from above the original mole site. The operation left my arm disfigured and with a large tennis ball sized dip.
After the arrival of my son, I was under the care of an oncologist who specialised in skin cancers. Every month I had a chest x-ray and blood tests and thorough physical check of my skin and nodes. Despite this being a bit scary, I loved going to the clinics, as I met so many others who had had a similar experience. There seemed to be very little information about melanoma then but the oncologist told me that I was to use sun cream and cover my skin with clothing and wear a hat. I was also treated with a monthly dose of BCG/tuberculosis vaccine for 2 years while the monitoring continued.
That advice was it for me! I covered up, wore very thick white sunscreen and wore a big hat and sat in the shade, no matter what time of the day. I still didn’t know very much about the severity of melanoma – there was a belief then that if you had a light tan that would offer protection. I wasn’t convinced!
I returned to the UK 24 years ago and shortly after that, noticed a change in a pigmented area on right forearm. I just knew it was a melanoma – that sharp, sick feeling in my stomach and the fear about major surgery – again. It took me three months to pluck up the courage to see my GP. I was seen quickly by the local hospital and had the lesion removed on the day I saw the dermatologist. What a different experience! The excision was small and no graft! I couldn’t believe that I’d had another skin scare – the consultant said it was down to bad luck and damaged DNA……
As I’d thought, the test results showed that it was melanoma but fortunately had been caught very early.
This time however I was supported by a Macmillan Nurse at the hospital and she gave me a great deal of information – how deep the lesion had been, what stage it was, and what to do to protect my skin. I was hugely reassured and felt better informed than I ever had. I had regular 3 monthly check-ups with a consultant who continues to look after me now 16 years later.
I recently developed a Basal cell carcinoma on the tip of my nose. I’d thought it was just a pimple that kept bleeding and then healing but again my husband thought I should see the GP about it. I sent a photo of the lesion and was referred urgently back to the hospital. I subsequently had the lesion removed after extensive surgery – it was small thankfully.
The dermatologist checked me last summer and felt that there had been a change in a large pigmented area on my lower arm. Subsequent removal showed it was a melanoma in situ so I felt very lucky that the doctor had spotted it and it was gone!
I have had numerous patches of skin burned and cut off in between the surgeries – most are severe sun damage. I check my skin carefully (but not as regularly as I should) but know that catching these things early is vital.
I am passionate about the wearing hats and sunscreen aways and strongly believe that sun awareness should be emphasised at schools and especially among teenage boys, who aren’t inclined to rub cream on their skin or to wear hats!
My melanoma journey has at times been scary and uncertain, especially with my first experience, when I knew so little and information wasn’t available. The best advice I was given by a doctor was that healing after the surgeries starts in your mind – positive thinking and support make such a difference. The internet has made finding out about melanoma so much easier and while not everyone wants to know, I’ve found that and sharing my story with others hugely helpful.
Margaret Mogentale
30 June 2025
