{"id":8677,"date":"2025-04-11T08:50:54","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T08:50:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/?p=8677"},"modified":"2025-04-14T13:44:27","modified_gmt":"2025-04-14T13:44:27","slug":"early-detection-saved-my-life-a-young-mothers-melanoma-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/blog\/early-detection-saved-my-life-a-young-mothers-melanoma-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cEarly Detection Saved My Life\u201d A Young Mother\u2019s Melanoma Journey","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"<h4>In 2018, a few months after she became a mother, Leah K. followed her own mom\u2019s advice and went to the dermatologist for her first professional <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/early-detection\/annual-exams\/\">skin exam<\/a>. She never imagined that the exam would uncover an aggressive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/skin-cancer-information\/melanoma\/melanoma-warning-signs-and-images\/\">melanoma<\/a> and ultimately save her life.<\/h4>\n<h3><strong>A Lifesaving Skin Exam<em><br \/>\n<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Leah distinctly remembers her mother\u2019s words. \u201cShe told me, \u2018<em>You really should start seeing a dermatologist. Now that you&#8217;re a mom, let&#8217;s make sure you&#8217;re doing all the things to keep yourself healthy.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>When Leah went for her exam, she pointed out a new mole that had appeared on her left shoulder. \u201cIt had popped up about a month before I went in for that skin exam; thankfully, it was in a noticeable location,\u201d she explains. Her dermatologist took a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/blog\/you-need-a-biopsy-now-what-happens-part-1\/\">biopsy<\/a>, but did not seem concerned. \u201cSo I left that appointment and I truly did not think twice about the biopsy.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Devastating Diagnosis<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>One week later, Leah\u2019s dermatologist phoned her with shocking news: Leah had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/skin-cancer-information\/melanoma\/\">melanoma<\/a> and her doctor was concerned about how deep it had penetrated her skin.<\/p>\n<p>In an instant, at the age of 24, Leah&#8217;s whole world changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wish I had the capacity to relate my feelings during that time, but I truly think I mentally shut down and was just going through the motions, focusing on doing whatever I needed to do for my son,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Skin Cancer is Serous: Leah&#039;s Stage 3 Melanoma Journey\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/otHwsrwl9Nw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Treatment and Recovery<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-8678 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/thumbnail_IMG_6691-450x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/thumbnail_IMG_6691-450x600.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/thumbnail_IMG_6691.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/>Leah was referred to the University of Michigan oncology team. In May 2018, within a month of her diagnosis, Leah had surgery to remove the melanoma and local (sentinel) lymph nodes.<\/p>\n<p>Because the cancer had spread to the nodes, putting her at stage III, Leah and her husband were informed that they had to wait before having another child.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;As a new mother, the diagnosis was devastating, but hearing that melanoma can spread to a fetus was equally heartbreaking,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n<p>Leah and her husband put family planning on hold, and focused on Leah&#8217;s recovery. &#8220;There was a lot going on behind the scenes, and it took awhile for me to come to terms with it all,&#8221; says Leah.<\/p>\n<p>After three and a half years of clean scans, Leah and her husband decided that the time was right to expand their family, and joyfully welcomed their second child, a healthy, happy baby girl. &#8220;She is a riot, and exactly what our family needed,&#8221; says Leah. &#8220;She makes us laugh every single day.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>What Leah Discovered About Skin Cancer<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Throughout her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/skin-cancer-information\/\">skin cancer<\/a> journey, Leah learned the vital importance of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/early-detection\/\">early detection<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/risk-factors\/working-outdoors\/\">prevention<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Battling melanoma has really helped me understand that skin cancer is serious,&#8221; she explains. &#8220;It is the most common cancer in the world, yet so many people don\u2019t prioritize sun protection or get regular checks. Had I ignored my mom\u2019s advice, my story might have ended very differently<em>.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In an Instagram post meant to support and encourage other <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/blog\/thisisskincancer-if-you-have-skin-you-can-get-skin-cancer\/\">skin cancer warriors<\/a>, Leah listed some of the other things that she learned about melanoma:<\/p>\n<p>\ud83e\udde0 How severe it is \u2014 melanoma can travel anywhere including to your brain or a fetus.<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udc64 How big the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/blog\/embrace-your-scars\/\">surgical scar<\/a> can be (or multiple scars) \u2014 it\u2019s not \u201cjust removing a mole.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udd20 How it doesn\u2019t always follow a pattern \u2014 melanomas don\u2019t always follow the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/skin-cancer-information\/melanoma\/melanoma-warning-signs-and-images\/#abcde\">ABCDE rule<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\ud83e\udee4 How long term the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/blog\/the-mind-skin-stress-connection-part-2-waiting-on-biopsy-results\/\">emotional damage<\/a> is \u2014 once diagnosed you\u2019re always at greater risk of a recurrence, which is hard to live with.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cMy journey with melanoma taught me how critical early detection and prevention are. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the world, yet so many people don\u2019t prioritize skin protection or get regular checks. Had I ignored my mom\u2019s advice, my story might have ended very differently.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3><strong>Finding Her Balance<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>When Leah reached the milestone of being 6 years cancer-free, she felt a mix of emotions, including relief and fear. &#8220;It&#8217;s a big milestone; I will say it&#8217;s also kind of scary because you know you&#8217;re going to be checked less,&#8221; Leah says. &#8220;It&#8217;s stressful to have that weight on your shoulders. Now it is my responsibility.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>At this point in her journey, Leah found her balance of enjoying outdoor activities with her family while being diligent about teaching and practicing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/skin-cancer-prevention\/sun-protection\/\">sun protection<\/a>. She also felt mentally and physically ready to dive into advocacy. &#8220;I&#8217;m extremely passionate about skin cancer prevention,&#8221; she says.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_8920\" style=\"width: 297px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8920\" class=\" wp-image-8920\" src=\"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_0687-450x600.jpg\" alt=\"Leah and her husband wearing T-shirts she created for her Save Destination Healthy Skin fundraiser.\" width=\"287\" height=\"383\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_0687-450x600.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_0687-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_0687-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_0687.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 287px) 100vw, 287px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-8920\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Leah and her husband wearing T-shirts she created for her Save Destination Healthy Skin fundraiser.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Leah works with the Foundation to spread skin cancer awareness on social media, and created a fundraiser for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/early-detection\/destination-healthy-skin\/support\/\">Save Destination Healthy Skin<\/a> campaign, supporting our free skin cancer screening and education program.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I want to ensure that more people \u2014 people who may not even realize they\u2019re at risk\u2014get the lifesaving screenings they need,&#8221; says Leah. &#8220;Early detection saved my life. I want to save more.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2018, a few months after she became a mother, Leah followed her own mom\u2019s advice and went to the dermatologist for her first professional skin exam. She never imagined that the exam would uncover an aggressive melanoma and ultimately save her life. But that\u2019s exactly what happened.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":10,"featured_media":8679,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5514,5599,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-destination-healthy-skin","category-the-big-see","category-true-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.3 (Yoast SEO v25.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\u201cEarly Detection Saved My Life\u201d A Young Mother\u2019s Melanoma Journey - The Skin Cancer Foundation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After she became a mother, Leah followed her own mom\u2019s advice and went for her first skin exam, which uncovered an aggressive melanoma.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/blog\/early-detection-saved-my-life-a-young-mothers-melanoma-journey\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u201cEarly Detection Saved My Life\u201d A Young Mother\u2019s Melanoma Journey\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After she became a mother, Leah followed her own mom\u2019s advice and went for her first skin exam, which uncovered an aggressive melanoma.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/blog\/early-detection-saved-my-life-a-young-mothers-melanoma-journey\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Skin Cancer Foundation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/skincancerfoundation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-11T08:50:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-14T13:44:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/thumbnail_IMG_7014.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Victoria Kopec\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@skincancerorg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@skincancerorg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Victoria Kopec\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/blog\/early-detection-saved-my-life-a-young-mothers-melanoma-journey\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/blog\/early-detection-saved-my-life-a-young-mothers-melanoma-journey\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Victoria Kopec\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/#\/schema\/person\/88046b1f8356ff57f093f2c8079eac55\"},\"headline\":\"\u201cEarly Detection Saved My Life\u201d A Young Mother\u2019s Melanoma Journey\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-11T08:50:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-14T13:44:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/blog\/early-detection-saved-my-life-a-young-mothers-melanoma-journey\/\"},\"wordCount\":849,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/blog\/early-detection-saved-my-life-a-young-mothers-melanoma-journey\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/thumbnail_IMG_7014.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Destination Healthy Skin\",\"The Big See\",\"This Is Skin Cancer\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/blog\/early-detection-saved-my-life-a-young-mothers-melanoma-journey\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/blog\/early-detection-saved-my-life-a-young-mothers-melanoma-journey\/\",\"name\":\"\u201cEarly Detection Saved My Life\u201d A Young Mother\u2019s Melanoma Journey - 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