I was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma after a mole grew into 20 tumors

A 26-year-old credits her trendy beauty routine with saving her life after discovering a lump in her neck that turned out to be stage 4 melanoma.

Helen Bailey, a real estate agent from Alabama, was using a spatula-like tool to reduce inflammation on her face in a technique called gua sha when she rolled the device over a bump in her neck.

She immediately called her doctor.

It grew rapidly, going from approximately the size of a gumball to the size of a plum. Little did she know, the lump was a warning sign of the 20 tumors that had invaded her body, all stemming from a cancerous mole on her back that she had removed years ago.

But now he was back, and more aggressive than ever.

Ms Bailey, now 28, was diagnosed with stage four metastatic melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer with only a 22 per cent chance of survival.

What followed his diagnosis in the spring of 2022 were months of treatments that gave him fevers of 104 degrees almost every day, uncontrollable shaking, a 20-pound weight loss, skin rashes, loss of appetite, chronic pain and internal bleeding.

Ms Bailey wrote on her TikTok: “If I hadn’t gone to the doctor then, I definitely wouldn’t be here right now.”

She now urges young people to never ignore new moles and to make an appointment with a dermatologist every year.

As well as raising awareness about skin cancer, Ms Bailey urged her hundreds of thousands of TikTok viewers to wear sunscreen every day and avoid excessive sun exposure.

She explained in a video: “I didn’t know much about skin cancer or anything… I feel like the more people who know about this, the more lives we could save.

Melanoma is a disease of the cells that give skin its color, called melanocytes. When the DNA of melanocytes is damaged – for example from excessive sun exposure or severe sunburn – it can mutate, develop into cancer and begin to multiply rapidly.

Thirty percent of melanoma cases begin as moles, but there is a small percentage of cases that cannot be traced to a single site. It is possible, write the doctors at the Cleveland Clinic, that the disease begins in intact parts of the skin.

Seven years before her diagnosis, Ms Bailey had a cancerous mole removed from her back. Although removing the growth often helps prevent further cancer from developing, sometimes not all of the cancerous tissue is removed and it continues to spread undetected.

In Miss Baileys’ case, the cancer spread from her skin to her lymph nodes, she said on TikTok. From there, it used his lymphatic system to spread throughout his body.

A stage 4 melanoma diagnosis indicates that the cancer has spread from its original site to distant parts of the body, such as the brain, liver, or lungs.

It is estimated that one in 50 Americans will be diagnosed with melanoma at some point in their life and approximately 100,640 people will be diagnosed with melanoma in 2024, according to Melanoma Research Alliance.

The average age of diagnosis is 63 years.

However, melanoma is one of the most common cancers in people under 30 and has increased “dramatically” over the past three decades, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

The clinic said this could be because the ozone layer has thinned in some areas due to climate change, letting in more UV rays, causing the skin to mutate.

According to the Melanoma Research Alliance, only a quarter of people diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma live five years after their diagnosis.

Ms Bailey was told her chances of living next year were “pretty slim”, she shared on Instagram.

In her case, the melanoma in her mole grew into 20 tumors that had taken up residence in or on most of the organs in her body.

Doctors operated on her “multiple times” to remove the tumors and she was treated with immunotherapy – a newly developed treatment that changes a patient’s body cells to attack the cancer.

Her diagnosis is part of why she is passionate about raising awareness today.

“Early detection through regular skin checks and prompt medical attention are essential for a better prognosis,” she said.

It is recommended to have a full-body skin exam with a dermatologist once a year so doctors can identify suspicious moles and monitor them, or test them to see if they are cancerous.

One of the most common tools dermatologists advise their patients to use to detect skin cancer is called the ABCDEs.

A for asymmetry: is the mole symmetrical all around? Melanomas are often uneven and have halves of different sizes and shapes.

B for border: does the mole have light borders? Melanomas are more likely to have ragged or jagged edges.

C is for color: is the color the same throughout the mole? Melanomas are more likely to have multiple shades.

D is for diameter: how big is the mole? Typically, they should be the size of the tip of a pencil, and melanomas tend to be larger.

Finally, E means evolution: has the mole changed over time? Most benign moles stay the same from year to year, but melanomas can grow, form, and change color over time.

Despite her initially grim prognosis, in February 2023, Ms Bailey learned that her doctors could no longer detect signs of cancer in her body.

She still has regular checkups every three months to stay vigilant. For now, she will “continue treatment to make sure all the cancer is gone and stays that way.” I still can’t believe I got to this point.