VAIL, Arizona (KGUN) — As temperatures rise and extra Arizonans head open air to benefit from the solar, one Tucson girl is sharing her private story — and a warning — in honor of Melanoma Monday and Pores and skin Most cancers Consciousness Month.
Candice Mason, a spouse and mom of three, was recognized with melanoma in 2017 at age 35 — the deadliest type of pores and skin most cancers.
She stated her battle started with a freckle that slowly became a mole over the course of 10 to fifteen years.
“I do know it feels like a loopy period of time,” she stated. “However, I did have it checked out on two totally different events and the third time, after I had my third youngster.”
That’s when she stated the freckle started to morph.
“The border was rising. It was darkish. It was not fairly,” Mason stated.
Docs eliminated the mole and, after a sentinel lymph node biopsy, found stage 3 melanoma.
When requested what that prognosis felt like, she stated, “Scary… devastating.”
“I did must do my first bout of immunotherapy, however my scans had been clear and I used to be beginning to get some unwanted side effects, so the physician and I had determined to stop therapy,” Mason defined.
Two years later, Mason was in a automotive crash. Whereas checking for accidents, docs discovered a suspicious spot in her lung — which they described as “an unidentifiable lesion.”
“I knew precisely what it was,” she stated. “So I referred to as my physician, my oncologist, and that’s what prompted my first mind MRI. We tried to discover a surgeon as a result of on the time, we thought it was simply localized to the lung.”
Quickly after, Mason started experiencing painful complications. A mind MRI revealed three tumors on her mind.
Her melanoma had unfold to her mind, lung, spleen and pelvic wall, and she or he was recognized with stage 4 melanoma.
Her case is one in all hundreds of thousands. In line with the American Most cancers Society, greater than 5 million circumstances of pores and skin most cancers are recognized every year in the US, making it probably the most generally recognized most cancers within the nation.
The American Most cancers Society estimates 3,790 new circumstances of melanoma might be recognized in Arizona this 12 months — a charge effectively above the nationwide common.
“Individuals want to only get up. Pores and skin most cancers isn’t one thing that you would be able to minimize out and also you’ll be high quality,” Mason stated. “It spreads to your mind. It’s disfiguring. And other people die from it.”
She urges folks to verify their pores and skin usually and restrict their publicity to ultraviolet (UV) rays — the most typical reason behind pores and skin most cancers.
Mason confirmed KGUN 9 the sunscreen she makes use of and emphasised the significance of consistency.
“One of the best sunscreen is the one that you just’ll put on,” she stated.
She additionally shared a number of solar security suggestions: utilizing sunscreen each day, overlaying up, staying within the shade, taking vitamin D dietary supplements, utilizing umbrellas, and carrying wide-brimmed hats and sun shades.
After present process intensive therapies — together with a double craniotomy, immunotherapy and mind radiation — Mason presently reveals no indicators of most cancers. She continues to watch her pores and skin and volunteers with the American Most cancers Society to advocate for most cancers laws in Arizona.
“Pores and skin most cancers is all-inclusive,” she stated. “It doesn’t care what coloration pores and skin you could have, what you imagine in, what age you might be, what gender you might be. All people is prone to pores and skin most cancers.”
The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2025 Cable Information Community, Inc., a Time Warner Firm. All rights reserved.