When Melanie Williams saw a mysterious black mark under her thumbnail she initially thought it was a pesky wart or a fungus infection. She was shocked to discover that it was actually melanoma. Luckily, before the melanoma spread throughout her body, she was able to remove the cancer, but she lost half her thumb as a result.
Now she's sharing the image of her thumb to warn others to check out any spots that look suspicious.
Before she underwent surgery, Melanie wrote on Facebook:
"See that on my thumb? Do you know what it is? It's skin cancer. This grew from nothing in a matter of weeks. I thought it was just a fungal infection or a wart. Sadly not. I've been lucky, the cancer hasn't spread and it's being removed next week along with half of my thumb. This may have not been the case if I'd left it and not got it checked out. I don't want your sympathy, I want more awareness. Therefore, please go and get any changes or growths on your skin checked out, please tell people around you to get checked as well. Don't leave it to chance or make excuses! I will be fighting fit in no time but if I'd left it, I may have been losing more than a thumb. So please, don't leave comments about how brave I am or how sorry you are, instead take that time to share this or tell someone they need to get checked or make that phone call to the doctors for yourself.........PS. If anyone knows where I can get a mini hook attachment for my stubby thumb give me a shout!"
Her post (opens in new tab), which has been shared nearly 100,000 times, already appears to be doing some good, with positive comments pouring in.
Melanie is overwhelmed by the response.
"Totally lost for words (for those who know me, this is rare)," she wrote. "I feel proud of everyone who's shared and taken note because of the awareness it's raised! You rock!" but she continues, "If I'd have known how much it was going to be shared I would have at least put some makeup on."
You've gotta love her sense humor, but for your own sake, spot skin cancer (opens in new tab) before something like this happens to you—because no one is immune.
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