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By Melissa Fleur Afshar
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Jaime never imagined that at just 23, after years as a rowing star and college athlete, she would get diagnosed with cancer.
Yet, the changing mole on her leg that she initially had little concern about eventually led to surgery, lymph-node biopsies and weeks spent wondering whether cancer had spread through her body.
Jaime, who lives in Dallas, Texas and would prefer to keep her surname private, told Newsweek she had noticed the mole growing for several months.
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"At one stage it became itchy, then the itching stopped, and I assumed it would go away," she said.
It was only after mentioning it during a video call with her mother, who lives in New Zealand, that Jaime booked a dermatologist appointment. Her mother had urged her to have the mole checked immediately, and that decision led to a discovery of invasive, aggressive melanoma, initially identified as stage 1B.
Invasive melanoma is a skin cancer that has grown beyond the epidermis, meaning it can potentially spread to other parts of the body through blood vessels and lymphatic channels. Melanoma that has not penetrated into the deeper layer of the skin carries very little risk of spreading, in comparison.
"My heart sank and I started crying," Jaime said. "I immediately called my mum in tears because I was so scared.
"I thought I was going to die."
Her shock experience has since transformed the way she thinks about sun protection and skin checks, something that she was once more relaxed about after growing up in sun-drenched Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, sometimes getting burned too.
Now undergoing further testing, Jaime wants other young people to recognize that skin cancer is not something they can simply assume will happen to somebody else, somebody much older.
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Navigating treatment has presented its own challenges. As a non-U.S. citizen, Jaime said she initially struggled to understand the healthcare system. After researching dermatologists covered by her insurance, she picked one, where the biopsy was performed.
When surgery became necessary, however, her family faced uncertainty over the cost. Jaime said her U.S. insurer could not tell her mother what the procedure would ultimately cost, while they believed surgery could be around $15,000.
Instead, her mother arranged for her to undergo surgery at home in New Zealand within two weeks.
"I was also very happy to be with my family," Jaime said, adding that her mother is her best friend and greatest support.
The day after arriving, Jaime underwent injections of radioactive dye intended to identify the sentinel lymph node, along with scans of her lower body. She then underwent surgery to remove the melanoma.
Doctors discovered it was 1.9mm deep rather than the anticipated 1.2mm. The surgeon also removed two lymph nodes and used a skin graft from Jaime's groin to cover the wound on her leg. She was told the melanoma was actually stage 2B.
Jaime spent the following week on the couch with her leg elevated, processing what had been and waiting for biopsy results that would determine whether melanoma had been found in her lymph nodes.
"That was the worst week of my life," she said. "I had a pit in my stomach the whole time, thinking I might have to leave America, move home, do chemotherapy, and possibly not live another 10 to 15 years."
But when the results finally arrived, her lymph nodes were fortunately clear.
Jaime then spent several weeks resting and attending appointments for wound cleaning, re-bandaging and checks on the skin graft. Her surgeon advised against flying while it healed, but eventually, her mother accompanied her back to the U.S., where Jaime initially needed a wheelchair through airports because she could not walk long distances.
She has now been told she needs skin checks every three months for five years.
Finding More Concerns and Staying Strong
Those checks have already uncovered another concern. Dermatologists later biopsied a suspicious mole on Jaime's back and found severely abnormal cells that could eventually become skin cancer. She underwent another, less extensive excision and now has three scars.
"It makes me sad sometimes because I never thought this would happen to me," she said.
Jaime recently met an oncologist and underwent blood work to check whether melanoma had spread elsewhere. She is also booked for PET and CT scans.
"I don't want to get my hopes up, but I really want to be cancer free," she said. "Right now, I'm feeling relieved and grateful for my family and my doctors."
The diagnosis has forced Jaime to reconsider years spent in intense sun. She said she previously used spray sunscreen but still occasionally burned. She now uses SPF 50 creams.
Jaime believes tanning culture can make the risks easier for young people to dismiss.
"Lots of people in Gen Z love getting tan and having tan lines is a major trend online," she said. "People will do almost anything to be tan, but you don't think you'll get cancer until you do.
"Melanoma can happen to anyone for a number of reasons, but being proactive with skin checks and sun protection is crucial."
She is now documenting her experience on TikTok, hoping it encourages others to take sun protection and skin checks seriously. Her dermatologist has already told her that several friends came in for checks after hearing her story.
"It's a wonderful feeling to positively influence someone," Jaime said, "and it made me smile."
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Kara Dolman and Paul Donnelley.
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