Michaela Peacock, a 35-year-old mother of two, says her hairstylist helped save her life by spotting a dangerous form of skin cancer on her scalp. At first, Michaela thought the spot was just a mole she hadn’t noticed before.
She felt a raised patch on her head. Her husband looked at it and said it looked like a mole, so they didn’t worry. Later, a friend suggested it might be something more serious. Michaela then sent a photo of the spot to her hairstylist.
Her hairstylist noticed the spot looked bigger and darker than before. That warning made Michaela decide to see a doctor.
She was quickly referred to a specialist at a hospital near her home in Huntington, England. The doctors removed the mole, which was found to be melanoma—a deadly type of skin cancer.
Although melanoma accounts for only about 1% of skin cancers, it causes most skin cancer deaths. Michaela said she was shocked when doctors told her the diagnosis. “When you hear the word cancer, you think of death,” she said.
She admitted she did not wear sunscreen much when she was younger because she didn’t like how it felt. Michaela has very fair skin and often burned in the sun before.
Now, she is waiting for biopsy results from spots on her lip and stomach. She says she is terrified of sun exposure and is very careful to protect herself. “I wear SPF all the time now, and on sunny days I wear factor 50, a hat, and sunglasses,” she said. Even simple walks in the sun make her feel paranoid.
Michaela wants people to understand how serious melanoma is. “I don’t think people see skin cancer as dangerous,” she said. “I’ve heard people say, ‘It’s only skin cancer.’ That’s wrong. Melanoma kills people.”
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