Chance sighting of mole on back saves Hamilton grandmother
A poster that caught Hazel Bell’s eye in a doctor’s waiting room may have saved her life.
‘‘Mole Maps $140 until the end of September.’’
Although the Hamilton grandmother felt fine and a thumbnail-sized mole on her back hadn’t visibly changed, she booked the second-to-last appointment on a whim for her peace of mind.
But the tests showed she had melanoma. It was caught in the nick of time – the cancer was already at risk of spreading to her lymph nodes.
‘‘It was so frightening,’’ Bell, 77, said.
‘‘I’ve had friends that have had cancer and my sister-in-law had just died of cancer. It was just terrible.
‘‘Because it had already started to spread, goodness knows, I could have been gone within the year, because it spreads so fast.’’
Bell had meant to get her moles checked for years, but never seemed to get around to it.
And she hadn’t noticed anything to be worried about.
But Bell was one of 11 patients diagnosed with melanoma, basal or squamous cell skin cancers during a six-week trial of MoleMap, available at a Northcare GP practice in Nawton.
Overall, 59 patients were mapped – most of whom had never had a MoleMap before.
The service offers digital microscopic level mapping of skin lesions, which are sent away for assessment.
New Zealand has the worst rates of melanoma in the world, with around 300 people dying from the cancer every year.
And the success of the trial meant Northcare are keen to offer the service through GP practices more regularly, general manager Justin Butcher said.
‘‘We are just in the process of working on how we can continue to work in the future because we’re really quite excited about the results.’’
Traditionally the service runs out of a separate clinic, Butcher said.
But having more services available in one place made it more likely for patients to go through with them.
‘‘What was really interesting out of the trial was the majority of the appointments were booked in the clinic on recommendation of the GP.
‘‘If someone says ‘hey you need to check your car tyres’ you put it off and put it off.
‘‘But if someone says I’ll walk you around here and we’ll do it now – you tend to do it.
‘‘We’re reducing those barriers.’’
Bell’s cancerous mole was cut out at Waikato Hospital three weeks after the diagnosis.
Now, she’s healthy – but shaken by the traumatic time last year.
Of the hundreds of New Zealanders suffering from the insidious disease, Bell considers herself lucky.
But she hopes her story serves a warning to others.
‘‘If you have moles or anything on your skin you’re suspicious about, you should never hesitate to go and have a mole map,’’ Bell said.
‘‘Because you don’t know, you just have no idea.’’