My name is Matt. Four years ago I had a small mole removed my back. I was only 29 years old and worrying about my moles wasn’t something I put much thought into, until a co-worker started to miss work because she found out she had melanoma. So the next time I visited my doctor for an unrelated issue, I asked him to look at a mole on my back that was unusually dark compared to my other moles. His immediate response was to remove the mole as soon as possible.
A couple days later I was back in his office to have the mole removed. It was pretty painless. He used this small cutting tool to remove the mole and it was over in less than a few minutes with a couple stitches to boot. At the time he told me the results would be back in less than a week.
To my chagrin, a couple of weeks went past with no call from the doctor. Being 29 though I wasn’t worried. I just thought his office was busy and they would get back to me when he could. He finally did call me at work and it was my doctor calling me directly. I could tell right away that the results must not have been good. Usually it would be a nurse calling me and not the doctor. He told me with a matter-of-fact tone that my mole was actually cancer and it was the worst type of skin cancer–Melanoma.
Hearing those words was like being punched in the stomach. I wanted to throw up and didn’t know what to think after I hung up. The first thing I did was to hunt down that co-worker. She was the first person I told. When I talked to her she provided me reassurance and a hug and brought me back from the edge of total despair. If it wasn’t for the conversation I had with her I think I would have easily lost it at work. That personal connection with another Cancer Survivor and the conversations I had with her in following weeks about treatment, doctors, and next steps made my experience easier than if I did not have someone to talk with.
My hope in particpating in this site is that I can easily return the favor my co-worker did for me after I was diagnosed with skin cancer and provide that personal touch and reassurance for others.
-Matt