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Grace Davies, from Hertfordshire, received treatment for her melanoma at the Royal Free Hospital after a seemingly benign mole was found to be cancerous.
Two years ago Grace noticed she had a new mole and thought she should have it checked.
“I went to the doctor and they said it was fine as it looked completely benign,” she said. “However, it started catching on things and I grew increasingly concerned therefore they removed it.”
After the mole sample was sent off for routine testing, it was revealed to be malignant and Grace was referred to Watford General Hospital to have the deeper area beneath the mole surgically removed in a primary excision.
Last month she attended the Royal Free Hospital to have further tests and to have a larger portion of skin around the mole removed to ensure no cancerous cells remained.
“It is quite scary,” she said. “I have got very fair skin so I’ve always been very cautious in the sun. I would really encourage people to use sunscreen daily. It’s such an easy thing to do and can prevent you from having to go through this really unpleasant process of being treated for cancer.”
Grace came to the Royal Free Hospital's nuclear medicine department for a sentinel lymph node localisation scan, prior to her skin surgery. The scan would indicate which lymph node the cancer may have spread to from the mole and should therefore be removed during a biopsy for testing. The lymph node was then removed at the same time as the wider excision around the initial area.
Two weeks later, tests revealed that, thankfully, the cancer had not spread to the lymph nodes and there were no further cancerous cells in the skin that had been removed. As such, no further treatment is required, but she will return to hospital for monitoring for a further five years.
“It’s such good news,” Grace said. “It’s really worrying waiting for the results and it’s such a relief to get the all-clear so I’m really happy life can start to return back to normal.”
Allan Ponniah, the surgeon who treated Grace, said: “I’m delighted Grace’s results have come back negative and she doesn’t require any further treatment. It’s such positive news.
“We are seeing a significant increase in the number of young people presenting with skin cancer, so I’d really like to emphasise the importance of using sunscreen and covering your skin when you’re out in the sun and, of course staying away from sun beds.
"Grace was one of the lucky ones to pick it up early, others aren’t so lucky. At the Royal Free London, we have the largest skin cancer service in London and it is our duty to work with the community and our patients to prevent skin cancer and promote early detection so our patients do not suffer unduly.”
Image: Grace Davies
