Katherine Ryan reveals new cancer battle as she opens up about shock diagnosis
KATHERINE Ryan revealed she has melanoma as she bravely opened up about skin cancer diagnosis.
The 41-year-old made the confession on the latest episode of her podcast Telling Everybody Everything.
It’s the second time Katherine has been diagnosed with the disease.
Revealing that she felt uneasy about a mole on her arm, Katherine explained that during an initial visit to the doctor she was given the all clear.
She said: “I know you should never google things but I’m actually really worried. Normally I’m that positive person
“I think it’s really easy to take a diagnosis of ‘you’re healthy’ and walk away.
“But the mole kept changing, I know a lot about melanoma, I had melanoma as a very young woman – aged 21 – on my leg, I’ve spoken about that before.
“It was flat, it wasn’t that big but it was melanoma. It is a deadly form of skin cancer and it does spread quickly.
“I just thought that this mole wasn’t right. It’s on my arm. I showed pictures of it on my social media. I went in and I wanted the doctor to remove it and stitch it up in a straight line.
“But even when he looked at it, he was like, ‘it’s not melanoma, it’s totally fine, I will do a shave and send it away for testing’.
Katherine added: “And he rang me today and it did come back as melanoma. Early melanoma. The doctor was shocked and told me I need to go back.
“It just feels crazy to me, what could have happened, if I hadn’t been my own advocate – and I will continue to be my own advocate.”
Katherine’s first brush with melanoma came when she was 21 and studying at Toronto University.
She previously told of having a “golf-ball sized” lump removed from her leg.
Speaking to The Guardian, she confessed she was too young to take it in at the time, adding: “I just joked that it was free lipo.”
Can you spot the cancerous moles from the harmless ones?
IF you’ve spotted a new mole or lingering mark on your skin, don’t be too quick to dismiss it.
It’s important to know what your skin looks like normally, to helps 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 getting checked:
- Asymmetrical – melanomas usually have two very different halves and are an irregular shape
- Border – melanomas usually have a notched or ragged border
- Colours – melanomas will usually be a mix of two or more colours
- Diameter – most melanomas are usually larger than 6mm in diameter
- Enlargement or elevation – a mole that changes size over time is more likely to be a melanoma
Most melanomas don’t give you symptoms like pain or itching.
Meanwhile, some non-cancerous moles or abnormal patches of skin can be itchy.
So having some of these changes on their own doesn’t mean you definitely have melanoma, but you should still get it checked out.
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 – this is also called basal cell carcinoma
- Squamous cell skin cancer – this is also called squamous cell carcinoma
There are a few different types of melanoma too:
- Superficial spreading melanoma
- Nodular melanoma
- Lentigo maligna melanoma
Find out more about distinguishing moles here.