FOR 10 years, Megan Grieves went to the GP more than 30 times looking for answers.
A decade later, the mother was left with a giant crater on her leg after doctors dismissed her concerns as “scaly skin” and psoriasis.
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The now 36-year-old said it was her late grandmother, June Evans, 69, who first raised concerns about a small freckle on her left leg.
And she credits June with “saving her life” – after pushing her for answers.
Megan claims her growing wart passed as dry skin at every checkup and was prescribed moisturizing creams to treat the scaly area on her shin.
And despite the mole growing to the size of a dime over the decade, the assistant professor claims she continued to receive other ointments to treat a bout of ‘psoriasis’.
It was only when June pushed for a diagnosis and Megan was seen by another family doctor that she was referred to a dermatologist.
In September 2016, aged just 28, Megan was diagnosed with melanoma – the deadliest form of skin cancer.
As time went on, my mole became flakier and flakier. It started from the size of a large freckle and reached the size of 10p.
Megan suffers
Megan then underwent two surgeries to remove the cancerous spot and check that the disease had not spread to her lymph nodes.
Horrifying photos show a gaping wound the diameter of a cricket ball where the wart and surrounding skin had been cut into the leg to remove the cancer.
And after having a skin graft to cover the incision, the mother-of-two was left with a permanent “crater” on her leg, which she claims the children stare at.
Despite being cured of cancer in 2017, Megan now shares a Facebook post every year to encourage people to get new blemishes and skin changes checked by a doctor.
She also thanked her grandmother, who sadly passed away in 2020, for continuing to push for her growing mole to be taken seriously.
Grandma saved my life
Megan, from Leicester in Leicestershire, said: “I’ve had a wart on my leg for as long as I can remember.
“When I turned 15, my grandmother said she didn’t like the way I looked and told me to go to the doctor.
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“My wart peeled and pieces fell off. I think over a 10 year period I went to see the GP about this wart about 30 times.
“I kept going back to the doctors and every time I went to the doctor they would just tell me it was dry skin or psoriasis and give me E45 cream to try and prescribe me lots of different things.
“As time went on, my wart became flakier and scalier and sometimes bled.
They cut a circle out of my leg so I was left with an open wound.
Megan suffers
“It started out the size of a large freckle and grew to the size of a 10-cent coin.
“My grandmother encouraged me to go back to the doctor once again as she was convinced something was wrong.
“I went back to my family doctor and that day there was a new doctor. He looked at my mole and didn’t like the way it looked, so he urgently referred me to the dermatology department.
“In the consultation they took a slice from the middle [the mole]I sewed it up and left.
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“I then went back to get my results at the hospital. They asked me if I had come alone and I knew something was wrong.
“My heart sank, but I was still very naive and didn’t understand what could be so wrong with a mole.
“Then they told me it was melanoma, which is a type of skin cancer.
“The diagnosis had a huge impact on our lives. The recovery was very long and I was helpless for a long time.”
THE DEADLIEST SKIN CANCER
According to the NHS, melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer that can spread to other areas of the body.
After her first surgery in October 2016, Megan was left with an open wound on her leg for 10 weeks while she waited for another operation to check the cancer hadn’t spread.
And after her second surgery, in January 2017, she says she was diagnosed with lymphedema and fibromyalgia, which leaves her with daily swelling and chronic pain caused by melanoma.
Megan said: “My grandmother has passed away now, but she kept me going.
“If it weren’t for her, I might never have had my mole checked. She saved my life.
“They [the doctors] They said they wouldn’t know how serious it was [the skin cancer] It was until I had the surgery.
“They cut a circle out of my leg and then I was left with an open wound.
“I always covered up and never sunbathed, so it shows that it can happen to anyone.
Megan suffers
“[In the second surgery], they dissected some lymph nodes on the left side of the groin and took a biopsy of them. Luckily I was told the melanoma hadn’t spread and I was very lucky.
“I put a skin graft on it now, so it’s healed [the open wound], but I have a huge crater on my leg that almost reaches the bone. If I hit, it’s unbearable.
“They also made me a prosthetic to fit my leg because the hole was really big, so when I wore tights I could hide it, but it was very uncomfortable and I tried to hug the hole.
“But now I don’t have my legs hanging out because I’m aware of it and I notice kids looking at him.
“I was told that one in 5,000 people would have lymphedema afterwards and then I was diagnosed with it in the same leg.
“I can’t even go to a theme park with my children because standing in line for too long makes my leg swell. Lymphedema will stay with me for the rest of my life.”
DON’T GIVE UP TRYING TO SEE A GP
Since sharing her diagnosis on Facebook as part of Melanoma Awareness Month, Megan has also encouraged people to be persistent with doctor appointments if they think something isn’t right.
Megan said: “The GP told me it was psoriasis 10 years ago and patches of dry skin. This is what I tell people: don’t take no for an answer and go back to your family doctor again.
“I have always covered up and never been in the sun, so it shows that this can happen to anyone, but not using sunscreen and sunbeds increases the risk.
“What they tell you as a melanoma patient is that on the first of every month you should check your skin in the mirror for any new spots or changes.”
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Can you identify cancerous spots from harmless ones?
IF you’ve spotted a new wart or persistent mark on your skin, don’t be too quick to dismiss it.
It’s important to know what your skin normally looks like to help you notice any unusual changes.
The ABCDE rule can be followed to assess the health of a mole.
If your mole falls into the following, it’s worth checking:
- Asymmetrical – melanomas usually have two very different halves and are irregular in shape
- Border – melanomas usually have a notched or irregular border
- Wcolors – melanomas are usually a mixture of two or more colors
- Ddiameter – most melanomas are usually more than 6 mm in diameter
- ANDexpansion or It iselevation – a mole that changes size over time is more likely to be melanoma
Most melanomas do not have symptoms such as pain or itching.
Meanwhile, some non-cancerous moles or abnormal patches on the skin can be itchy.
So having some of these changes alone doesn’t mean you definitely have melanoma, but you should still get tested.
There are two main types of skin cancer – non-melanoma skin cancer and melanoma skin cancer.
Non-melanoma skin cancer includes:
- Basal cell skin cancer – also called basal cell carcinoma
- Squamous cell skin cancer – also called squamous cell carcinoma
There are a few different types of melanoma as well:
- Superficial spreading melanoma
- Nodular melanoma
- Lentigo maligna melanoma
Learn more about telling moles apart here.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
