By Meghan Holohan – TODAY
In 2010, Amanda Eilian, then 33, was out with her two daughters when her eldest made a comment about a mole that she found surprising.
“My 2-year-old daughter pointed to the spot on my wrist, which I had never mentioned before, and said, ‘Chocolate, you have chocolate, mommy,’” Eilian, a partner and co-founder of Able Partners, who lives in New York, tells TODAY.com. “It was such an unusual thing for her to say it and notice it.”
The next time she visited her dermatologist, Eilian asked her to remove it. At first, he dismissed it, but then reluctantly took it from her, insisting all the while that he was not evil. Eilian later learned that the mole was stage 2 melanoma.
“It was a great lesson, not the way you want to learn the lesson, to learn the importance of advocating for yourself and taking a proactive role in your own health,” he says. “It takes a certain amount of self-confidence to keep pushing back and, frankly, I was lacking at the time and I still have to intentionally cultivate that knowledge that I know my body better than anyone.”
The importance of skin checks
As someone with light skin and hair, Eilian has always been aware of the need for regular skin checks. His grandmother and his aunt had melanoma, and several people in his family have been diagnosed with less aggressive forms of skin cancer. While performing self-examinations, he also visited a dermatologist annually. For two years, the mole on her arm worried her.
“I had noticed… a spot on my right wrist, an unusual spot, probably the darkest spot on my body,” he says. “I later learned that (the color of the mole) was a common marker for skin cancer.”
[Mi pulmón colapsó 6 veces antes de que finalmente me diagnosticaran una forma rara de endometriosis]
When she first noticed the dark mole, she asked her doctor to examine it. But he told her that she was fine.
“He brushed it off and said, ‘Don’t worry about it,’” Eilian recalls.
The following year, she asked him to look at it again. Once again, she dismissed it. Finally, in 2010, her young daughter pointed out the spot. This time, Eilian felt emboldened.
“He dismissed my concern again. I said, ‘I feel uncomfortable, please take it off,’” she remembers. “After (my) push, she removed it. But as she was removing it, I clearly remember her saying, ‘I’m telling you right now, this is nothing.’
The next day, he left Eilian a voicemail telling her he had cancer.
“I was really sorry, but it was actually something,” he says.
Eilian began seeing a new doctor, who performed a biopsy to measure the depth of the melanoma. His doctor diagnosed him with stage 2 melanoma, which was terrifying.
“It was a very, very scary thing to hear when I had two little kids at home,” she says.
A hand surgeon performed surgery to remove the mole and ensure it had clear margins, which was complicated due to the location.
“There was concern that because of the amount of tissue they had to remove, there was a risk that I would lose some function in my hand,” Eilian says. “Thank God I never had that problem. But the surgery was a little delicate from that point of view.”
Recovery went well, although Eilian was also juggling two young children at the time. She did not need any follow-up treatment, such as chemotherapy. Still, she visits the dermatologist every three months for regular skin checks.
“I’ve been healthy,” she says. “I feel very lucky.”
[Una mujer embarazada de 31 años contrae COVID-19, una rara infección por hongos y sobrevive: “Los milagros suceden”]
Melanoma
Skin cancers are the most common cancer in the United States and around the world, Marc Hurlbert, executive director of the Melanoma Research Alliance, tells TODAY.com. “In the United States alone, there are more than 2 million cases of skin cancer.”
There are three types of skin cancer:
- Basal cell carcinoma
- Squamous cell carcinoma
- Melanoma
“Basal cell and squamous cell (carcinomas) tend to stay on the surface of the skin and can be treated with surgery,” Hurlbert says. “Melanoma tends to invade the skin and can reach the blood and lymph node systems. “Melanoma is the deadliest skin cancer.”
Performing skin checks, as Eilian did, can help people identify areas of the body that have changed over time.
“Knowing your skin and what moles, freckles or other lesions you have and any new lumps or red spots (is important),” Hurlbert explains. “If it comes on suddenly or changes over time, you should tell your primary care doctor.”
To identify moles or bumps that could be skin cancer, experts advise remembering the ABCDE. A location that has any of these characteristics should be examined. ABCDE means:
TO: Asymmetrical appearance
B: Border that appears abnormal
C: Color that varies depending on the mole or is red, white or even blue.
D: Diameter that exceeds the size of a pencil eraser.
AND: Evolving, a place that changes
[Una mujer de 35 años hospitalizada con una enfermedad cardíaca revela el primer síntoma que casi ignoró]
You should also “take care of the ugly duckling in your skin,” he says. “If a (dot) stands out as having a particularly unusual appearance… be aware of that.” For example, Eilian’s cancerous mole was much darker than the other moles on his body, he notes.
Melanomas are more common in “very light-skinned people,” who have red or blonde hair, or blue or green eyes, Hulbert says. But it happens in everyone.
“Any person of any race or ethnicity anywhere in the world can get melanoma,” he says. “We would really like to dispel the myth, for example, that black people or dark tan people can’t get melanoma, because they can.”
People can reduce their chances of developing skin cancer by protecting themselves from the sun. Experts recommend:
- Use SPF 30 sunscreen daily and reapply it every two hours.
- Use a broad-spectrum sunscreen that protects against UVA and UVB radiation.
- Avoid outdoor activities from 10 am to 4 pm when the sun is at its zenith
- Wear UV protective clothing, such as sun shirts.
- Wear a wide-brimmed hat outside.
- Sit in the shade.
[En compañía de un especialista, Laura Flores habla del microinfarto que sufrió]
“Sunburn and intense sun exposure increase the risk of developing melanoma later in life,” Hurlbert says. “It is a cumulative exposure to the sun. So, sunburns that he may have had as a child or teenager lead to an increased risk of melanoma when he is in his 40s, 50s, and 60s.”
If doctors detect melanoma in its early stages, stage 1 or 2, they can remove it with surgery without additional treatment.
“Once it becomes invasive, it’s a rapidly growing cancer,” Hulbert says. “We urge people to re-check their bodies monthly.”
“If you have a more advanced case of melanoma, you will have surgery and probably immunotherapy, depending on your stage and the type of melanoma you have,” Hurlbert says.
The first immunotherapy for cancer was approved in 2011 and many have been approved since then, he notes. Hurlbert says these treatments have been a game-changer.
“A diagnosis of metastatic melanoma was often a death sentence (before immunotherapy). Only about 10% of those people lived for five years,” she says. “Now, with immune therapies, more than 50% of them live to five years.”
[La misteriosa enfermedad que “masticó lentamente” el cerebro de un padre sano, de 42 años, comenzó con un simple cosquilleo]
“She saved my life”
For nine months after her cancer treatment, Eilian felt worried about her health. She began cultivating healthy practices, such as dietary changes, exercise, and meditation.
“I felt very scared,” she says. “Feeling like I had some control over my own journey and my own outcomes… gave me a lot of comfort and was probably helpful in my recovery.”
Eilian is in remission and is aware of what having melanoma means for her in the future.
“When you have melanoma, it is one of the risk factors for diseases like breast cancer. …My grandmother had breast cancer and melanoma,” she states. “Overall, she has made me more aware of the need to be careful with my health.”
As an investor and entrepreneur, Eilian began investing in health and wellness companies that encourage people to be proactive about their health. Shortly after her diagnosis, Eilian joined the board of directors of the Melanoma Research Alliance. She hopes her experience will encourage others to advocate for themselves.
“While I would never say I know as much about melanoma or dermatology as a doctor, I do know more about my body than anyone else,” she says. “Be persistent and have confidence in yourself and your own observations.”
Eilian’s daughters started getting skin checks with the dermatologist, and she will always be grateful for her 2-year-old daughter for saying something about her mole.
“I have to thank my now 15-year-old daughter for identifying it,” he says. “She saved my life.”
If you want to read the note in its original version in English, see here.