Part 1: “Well, this can’t be good.”
A mole on my left leg was itching terribly one day in 2012 when I was driving to work. While I was scratching it, I felt a warm liquid go down my leg. I looked down and saw I was bleeding pretty badly and the mole was hanging off my leg. I remember thinking, “Well, this can’t be good.” I went home, called the dermatologist and ended up with an appointment 4 weeks later. At the appointment, the doctor said it looked fine and he doubted I had anything to worry about.
Three days later he called and told me my biopsy came back positive for melanoma. About a week later, the mole was surgically removed and I was told margins were all clear. I was good to go on with my life.
Part 2: Not so fast...
In September 2014, I was taking bins down from my attic to start decorating the house for Halloween when I noticed a hard bump in my groin area right where my lymph nodes would be. I was a little concerned but blew it off. After a week of this bump still being there, I told my sister who told me to call my doctor immediately. To be honest, I didn’t know which doctor to call. My general practitioner or my OB/GYN? I hadn’t thought to call my dermatologist until someone asked me if it was on the same leg where I had my melanoma in 2012, and it was. After about 3 weeks of my sister yelling at me and now someone telling me I should call the dermatologist, I finally did. I explained the situation to the receptionist who seemed uninterested and didn’t make the appointment for another 3 weeks.
At the appointment, the doctor examined the lump and I watched the color from his face drain. Again, I thought: “Well, that can’t be good.” He immediately sent me to the same surgeon who removed my melanoma in 2012. The surgeon seemed unconcerned and said: “I know I got it all in 2012.” I then broke down in tears because I just knew he was wrong...I could feel it. I went in for my surgery on October 13, 2014. The surgeon removed that one lymph node and said he would call me in a few days with the results. On October 16, he called me with the devastating news that it was indeed melanoma in my lymph node. I had Stage 3 melanoma. I felt like I was standing in the middle of a room and everything around me was going 100 mph! After I hung up, I had to call my husband and other family members. In between the calls, I was pacing back and forth and begging God not to take me from my children. I also had a lot of guilt for all the years I used a tanning bed and didn’t put sun block on at the beach. How could I be so vain and stupid? I honestly never knew you could actually die from skin cancer.

Stay tuned for more of Amy's story !