As Jacquelyne Froeber tells
May is a month of the skin cancer month.
How many days a year do you think you burned? “My oncologist asked me.
I fidgeted in my seat. Should I tell him the truth?
“Maybe 300,” I said from time to time.
He almost fell from his chair.
I didn’t accuse him. I knew it was bad. To my defense, I didn’t even know the word melanoma when I got hard on the tanning stands in 2012. Browning was not only encouraged – it was pretty much prescribed. And we didn’t think much about it. After all, who does not want a brown legs if they are in a mini skirt thousands of people?
My College Cheerleading career was canceled after two years when I tore my Achilles tendon. After my injury, I cut back a long time and only went on special occasions, as I married in 2017. My husband and I had our two children pretty soon after our marriage, and I hardly had a minute outside in the sun, let alone time for a tanning cabin.
In 2022 I noticed a mole that I had never seen before. When it got bigger, I called my doctor to get it out. In her office she made a biopsy and said you would call me the results in a few days. I found it strange that she did not check the rest of my body in the face of my tanning story, but she didn’t seem to be worried. When the office did not call this week, I thought everything was fine.
Ten days later I prepared to bring my children to school when I got the call.
I had skin cancer. It was melanoma.
I couldn’t believe what I heard. I thought only older people got skin cancer, and I was only 26 with a 1 and 2 year old, and I was always healthy. I knew that my tanning story was not good – but I had no idea that my age had a fatal form of skin cancer.
I had an operation to remove the mole and cancer tissue, and I started taking my skin very seriously. I saw my dermatologist every three months for skin tests.
About a year after the melanoma diagnosis, my daughter came home with pink eyes from the daycare center, and that meant that we all understood it. In addition to the beautiful discharge and crying in my eyes, I developed pain on the side of my left chest. When I told my doctor, she prescribed more antibiotics for me, but the pain stayed.
When I followed the pain, the doctor wanted to prescribe even more antibiotics, but I asked them to order a scan. I knew something was wrong.
She ordered a mammogram, but it showed nothing abnormal, even though the pain felt like it was exhausted from my chest.
I finally had an ultrasound, and there was the source of my pain – an enlarged lymph node about 17 -times as big as a healthy. I had a needle biopsy and went home to wait for the results.
A few days later I called the office, but there was no news. I finally got a call for thirteen days after the biopsy: I had cancer.
“But we don’t yet know what kind of cancer he is,” said the doctor.
I didn’t know what I expected from the call, but I was stunned. “How do you not know what kind of cancer it is?” I asked.
Kelly, with her husband and two daughters, 2024
Two hours later, the doctor called back and said that the cancer was a melanoma that spread on my lymph nodes. She spoke about steps in the future, but I had already checked out and decided that I needed a new doctor. I tried to stay calm and remembered that I was strong and everything could get through.
That night a mighty tornado blew through our city and damaged our property. Fortunately, nobody was injured, but the tornado moved something in me – things felt out of control.
I was very lucky that my cousin worked in healthcare and she connected me to an oncologist – one of the best in our region. I had a total lymph node section to remove all lymph nodes in my left arm.
After the operation, we learned that only a lymph node had cancer. It was the best scenario and I sobbed with relief. I still had 26 round immunotherapy to do, but my medical team said I was basically clear. It would not be long before I could return to my regular life. And I was more than ready.
The first two rounds of immunotherapy went well. But when I did the third round of blood work, my thyroid content was alarming. As if we couldn’t move forward with the treatment.
I thought it was a mistake. Physically, I didn’t have the feeling that something was wrong. But my thyroid gland had completely stopped working, and my blood sugar level was also high.
It turned out that immunotherapy medications had led to my immune system attacking my organs, and now I had so -called medically induced hypothyroidism and type -1 diabetes.
Both diseases were side effects of immunotherapy, which is extremely rare. Nevertheless, I couldn’t start treatment again until I had my thyroid and blood sugar level under control.
I was in survival mode and did what the doctors told me. But I had problems. The attempt to manage two new autoimmune diseases was scary and exhausting. And I still had to do immunotherapy.
In July 2024 I finally ended immunotherapy, but the hits kept coming up. My body changed after the treatment. During my period, I developed heavy bleeding and cysts in golf ball size in my ovaries. I had to have tied my tubes, which was particularly difficult because my husband and I wanted more children.
A few months later I had an enlarged almond removed, and the pathologist said that the inflammation was from immunotherapy. Last March I had to remove my gallbladder – again inflammation from immunotherapy medication.
It is breathtaking to think for me that melanoma – and the treatment of melanoma – caused this huge chaotic wave in my life. It is the most difficult that my children see me so sick. You asked me what cancer is and you are afraid to see health service providers (HCPS). But I tell them that it is the opposite: everyone has to see a dermatologist to ensure that their skin is healthy.
I have worked with the Melanoma Research Alliance in the hope of helping them to learn more about what causes rare side effects and how they can prevent them. We know that melanoma is not uncommon and the rates for young people are on the rise. I want everyone to know that it should not be seen as a luxury – it is a necessity – just like going to the dentist. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter how old you are. If you are checked, you can save your life.
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Our real women, real stories are the authentic experiences of women in real life. The views, opinions and experiences that are shared in these stories are not supported by healthwomen and do not necessarily reflect the official politics or position of healthwomen.
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