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SUN SHY
Mum scarred for life after tiny scab turns out to be cancer – despite never sunbathing
A MUM was left with a gaping hole in her nose after a pin prick-sized speck turned out to be cancer - despite her claims she never sunbathed.
Katy Flynn, from Harpurhey, Manchester, said the tiny mark appeared overnight in December 2016 but she dismissed it as "nothing to worry about".
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But it was only when the 31-year-old mentioned it in passing to her GP around a year later that she was told it was more sinister.
The mum-of-two was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma, a form of skin cancer, in February and needed surgery to remove the cancer.
Medics had to pull down the skin from her forehead to cover the parts of her nose they had cut away – leaving her with an open flap for four weeks to allow the flesh to grow back.
The online banking assistant, who is engaged to boyfriend, Chris, 33, has revealed she never told her two daughters, Miley, nine, and Abbie, five, she had cancer and even showed them pictures of patients with a forehead flap in advance so they wouldn't be scared when she came home.
I never thought this would happen to me, but it has made me realise that anyone can get skin cancer - whether you're a sun seeker or not
Katy Flynn
Katy said: "I just woke up with it one day, it was just a tiny scab the size of a pen dot so I just assumed one of the girls had caught me with their nails.
"I was in shock when doctors told me it was skin cancer.
"I've always been a shade-seeker, I avoid the sun at all costs.
"When I go on holiday I'm head to toe in factor 50 all the time.
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"My friends laugh at me because they'll all be laid out in the sun and I'll be sat in the shade with my book.
"The only time I ever tried going on a sunbed was for a minute as a teenager and I hated it so I came straight off.
"I never thought this would happen to me, but it has made me realise that anyone can get skin cancer - whether you're a sun seeker or not."
'Harmless' spot
For six months after first spotting the scab in December 2016, Katy ignored it completely before spending six months using moisturisers and creams to get rid of it – thinking it was eczema or a bacterial infection.
She mentioned it to her doctor in December 2017 when it still hadn't shifted and in January 2018 was referred back to dermatologists when it grew to the size of a 5p.
There, medics diagnosed her with solar keratosis, pre-cancerous sun damage which if left untreated could turn into skin cancer.
Katy was prescribed a topical gel to kill any pre-cancerous cells and sent on her way – but despite using the treatment for another year, the scab kept coming back bigger and bigger.
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She said: "The scab kept dropping off and growing back for about six months but because of where it was I just thought it was stopping it from healing properly.
"It would bleed after I washed my face and dried it with a towel, but I never suspected anything.
"Up until the end of 2017 I was just using moisturisers and different creams but when that didn't clear it up I thought it might be a touch of eczema or a bacterial infection.
"Eventually, I was prescribed a gel to kill pre-cancerous cells.
"When that didn't work the same scab returned but bigger than before, this time the size of a five pence, so I went back to the doctor.”
It would bleed after I washed my face and dried it with a towel, but I never suspected anything
Katy
When Katy chased more answers in December 2018, dermatologists decided to take biopsies from her nose and when the results returned in February this year, her worst fears were confirmed.
Medics booked Katy into the day surgery clinic at Salford Royal Hospital in September, where the doctors performed Mohs surgery - a procedure which takes away small pieces of skin and tests each bit until all the cancer is taken away.
After the six hours of surgery, Katy was referred to The Christie Hospital in Manchester the same day for a facial reconstruction which would leave her with an open flap of skin for the next month.
Cutting skin from the top of her forehead and pulling it down to attach to her nose, doctors had to leave Katy with the open flap across her face so the skin would remain alive and start to grow enough so they could graft over where the cancerous cells had been removed.
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What is basal cell carcinoma?
Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is sometimes referred to as a rodent ulcer.
The disease affects the outermost layers of cells in the skin.
Around 75 per cent of all skin cancers are BCCs, which are typically slow-growing and almost never spread to other parts of the body.
If treated at an early stage, this form of skin cancer is usually completely cured.
But if they do become more aggressive, BCCs may spread into the deeper layers of the skin and into the bones - which can make treating it more difficult.
Signs of BCCs, include a skin growth that:
- Looks smooth and pearly
- Seems waxy
- Looks like a firm, red lump
- Sometimes bleeds
- Develops a scab or crust
- Never completely heals
- Is itchy
- Looks like a flat red spot and is scaly and crusty
- Develops into a painless ulcer
Katy said: "As soon as I knew it wasn't life threatening and there was something I could do about it I felt relieved, as that was always my biggest worry.
"I'm not ecstatic with the way it looks, but there's no point being down about it.
"When I had the forehead flap I didn't really leave the house apart from to pick the kids up from school.
"I couldn't face all the questions, I didn't want to have to answer them.
I'm not ecstatic with the way it looks, but there's no point being down about it
Katy
"At home I never used the word 'cancer' with the children - they had recently lost their granddad to cancer so I didn't want them to associate what I had with someone dying.
"I just told them that I had some skin on my face that needed to be cut away and they were going to replace it with healthier parts of my skin.
"When I knew I was going to have the forehead flap I made sure I showed them pictures of what it would look like.
"I was terrified of the idea that I would come home and they would be scared of me."
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Once the skin had grown enough to cover the wound, Katy returned to hospital this October so doctors could sew the flap back into place and allow her face to heal.
Now the bank worker has a four-inch scar from her forehead to her nose, and while she admits she is nervous about dealing with customers who don't know her story, she feels lucky to be here.
Katy said: "I'm not really worried about people staring at me in the street, but I am nervous about going back to work.
MORE ON SKIN CANCER
"A lot of my customers I deal with over video chat so they will only see a snapshot of me - my head and shoulders - and that does make me feel a bit self-conscious.
"I do wonder if the doctors had taken biopsies in the first place rather than trying to diagnose me from pictures whether it would have gone this way.
"But it's happened now and I'm just lucky that it wasn't life threatening and I'm still here for my children and husband-to-be."
Leading dermatologist Dr Saqib Bashir explains the different types of skin cancer and what they might look like
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