Rebecca Turner, who is from Barry, south Wales, “thought she was going to die” when she was eventually diagnosed with nodular melanoma — an aggressive form of skin cancer
A mum who dismissed a mark on her chest as “just a spot” was devastated to be diagnosed with an aggressive cancer.
Rebecca Turner, 46, had part of her lung removed after medics examined the patch of pale skin and red lump on the upper right side of her chest. She had thought the 1cm large lump was “just a spot”, but became increasingly concerned when it started going black, changing colour, and became itchy.
And when medics told Rebecca she had nodular melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer, the mum-of-one “thought she was going to die”. Having very occasionally used sunbeds in her 20s in the incorrect belief it was the “done thing” to “prep her skin” before holidays, Rebecca now wants them banned.
She said: “I think that a lot of people don’t understand melanoma, they just think that it’s a case of they cut it out and it’s gone, when that’s not the case at all. I’m a melanoma support group and all of us have had people say things to us like ‘if I was going to get a cancer, melanoma would be the one that I would want because you just cut it out and it’s done’.
“But it’s not. No cancer is just you cut it out and it’s done. It’s not as if people think this out of malice — I think it’s a lack of awareness and education.”
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The mum, from Barry, south Wales, has had three surgeries to remove surrounding skin and lymph nodes since her diagnosis in June 2022. She was placed on “watch and wait” — which meant that she had cancer, but that she didn’t need urgent treatment.
Every three months, she returned to the hospital for a full body CT scan and full body skin check to ensure that there had been no further changes. However, the freelance healthcare trainer received the devastating news in July this year that the cancer was now stage four and had spread to her lungs.
Recalling her diagnosis, Rebecca said: “It was like I was watching it happen to someone else. I was devastated. As soon as I heard that word cancer I thought I was going to die — I thought it was going to be the end.
“That weekend was horrific. I spent most of the weekend crying, trying to hide my upset from my grown-up daughter. I was trying to make sure that she didn’t get too anxious and was telling her that they caught it early, it would be fine, but I was constantly crying behind closed doors.”
Despite the operations, doctors discovered the lump wasn’t stable and had tripled in size in that time frame by July this year. They confirmed Rebecca had stage four metastatic melanoma.
Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that can spread to other areas of the body. The main cause of melanoma is ultraviolet light, which comes from the sun and is used in sunbeds.
“I personally think sunbeds should be made illegal in the UK – they’ve been made illegal in other countries. I never used a sunbed much in my life. I had a few sunbed sessions before going on holiday because that was what we would class as the done thing when I was younger,” Rebecca added.
How to spot melanoma
“We’d do it to prep your skin before you go away when in reality when you actually look at the science behind it, it’s not prepping your skin at all, it’s just damaging it.
“Going on holiday with friends in my 20s they would always take the mick out of me because I was constantly reapplying my suncream. Because I didn’t burn easily, factor 30 was the highest that I would use in my 20s and 30s – up until now.
“I would use factor 20 for the first few days of the holiday and then I would go down to 15, 10 and then even two. I was reapplying the wrong lotion because what I know now is that we should only be using a factor 30 or above.”
