A Mandurah woman has urged the community to check themselves for skin cancer after her granddaughter tragically passed away from melanoma at only 29-years-old.
Maxine Giles has had two primary melanomas removed in her lifetime and her daughter has had one removed.
Unfortunately Maxine’s granddaughter Tara Jury did not survive her struggle.
Tara noticed a mole on her leg that bled when she shaved the area, Maxine said.
“The doctor assured her it was just a little mole. Nothing to worry about,” she said.
After Tara pushed for the mole to be checked, the doctors realised it was a primary melanoma.
A big incision was made on her leg to remove the mole, Maxine said. Unfortunately, after about 18-months the melanoma had spread and she was diagnosed with secondary melanoma.
“She went to Sydney to get lazer treatment but that didn’t work,” said Maxine.
Shortly after this, the cancer had entered her blood stream and reached her brain. Tara passed away in November, 2012.
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“It’s so sad,” Maxine said. “We miss her terribly. She was our eldest granddaughter.”
When Maxine was diagnosed with her first primary melanoma in 2007, she was told there was an 86 per cent chance of her living for another five years.
“That scared me terribly,” she said.
Maxine has found support with the Melanoma WA group that meets in Mandurah every second Thursday of the month.
She has urged people to get a free skin check at the Skin Clinic Mandurah on February 17, 2018.
A Melanoma WA spokesperson said 105 people were screened at last year’s Mandurah free skin check day.
“Seventy three lesions of interest were identified requiring further investigation,” the spokesperson said. “Of those 73, eight were suspected melanomas.”
For more information visit Melanoma WA.
Melanoma support group: 5.30-7.30pm Bortolo Pavillion, cnr Bortolo and Murdoch drive, Mandurah.
Carla Hildebrandt
Journalist at the Mandurah Mail
Journalist at the Mandurah Mail
