MEGHAN FORREST

Stage:Stage I

Throughout, my entire life there was nothing I loved more than being outside in the sun. Unfortunately, through that entire time I never wore sunblock. It never was a concern in what could happen to me as long as I was having fun. Back then I barely knew what Melanoma was, and never thought that I would get it. On September 1, 2011 my life was completely flipped upside down as I received a phone call from my doctor telling me I was diagnosed with Melanoma. As I was crying on the phone with my doctor, I had to think back to all of the situations I put myself in that lead me to this juncture in my life.
When I was young, my parents always made me apply sunblock. We would be at the beach or the pool and they would pull us away to make sure we were completed covered from head to toe in sunblock. However, once I started to go out in the sun alone with my friends and not with my parents, I would never apply sunblock. We were too busy having fun and being silly to think about anything else. I was then constantly outside through youth activities such as Melrose Pop Warner cheerleading. The practice and games were always outside and again I never thought about protecting my skin. Once I started high school I started playing field hockey. Double sessions began and that was another eight hours of being in the sun with no protection. When we had breaks, I was drinking water and attempting to catch my breath and the thought of putting on sunblock never even crossed my mind. As I looked back this was just the start of what I did to myself and all the ways I did not protect my skin. Then I started tanning.
Tanning salons were starting to become popular when I was in high school. Everyone I knew was going to them for special occasions such as the high school proms. I was able to convince my parents when I was about fifteen that I would only go once a week for a month for the dance. After that I was hooked. By age seventeen I was tanning almost every day. Something about the smell and the feeling the heat was addicting. In college I would go tanning after or before classes. It was a short walking distance away from my dormitory so it made it even easier for me to go tanning.
I figured that once I graduated college and started my dream job as a nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, I would stop tanning. However, I was addicted. I knew how bad it was and I continued to harm myself. It was a way for me to relax. With my new job, I started new insurance and had to get a new primary care physician. My new doctor was amazing and thorough. Before the appointment was over, she mentioned how tan skin was for the month of January. I confessed my love for the sun and my tanning. This raised my doctor’s concern and she immediately referred me to a dermatologist.
In August of 2011, I met my dermatologist who was concerned with my skin and my tanning habits. He lectured me about the risks and what I could be doing myself. I listened and understood what he was saying, but I was not sure if I was ready to stop. Before I left my appointment I mentioned a mole on my left calf that I was always noticing when I was outside. The color would change to bright red and that it gave me had a bad feeling. He examined the mole and said that it looked like it was on a blood vessel that I should not need to worry. However since I had a bad feeling he suggested that I get a biopsy. I am not fan of needles, but he said that with the biopsy I would never have to worry about it again. I agreed to do it, not knowing what was going to happen to my life.
On September 1, 2011 I was driving to my grandmother’s house to meet up with my mom to celebrate my dad’s birthday when I got the phone call. It was the doctor, the one that told me that I should not worry, telling me he had bad news. My biopsy came back and it was Melanoma. I slammed on my breaks while my heart skipped a beat. He was telling me that I had to come in the next day and meet my whole new team of doctors. My head was spinning and I could not pay attention to the phone conversation or where I was going. I hung up the phone and all I wanted to do was cry in my parent’s arms.
My mind was racing. I had not only ruined my father’s birthday, but I had to tell my parents that I had skin cancer. I did this to myself. On September 2, 2011, I went into the Melanoma and Pigmented Lesion Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and met my new doctors and learned what was going to happen to me. They told me that I had Stage 1B, which met the cancer cells are multiplying and that there was a chance that the cancer had spread. They booked my surgery September 16, 2011.
The morning of the surgery I had a mix of emotions. I was anxious, sad, depressed, and angry. I did this to myself, and I was now thinking of how I could have been so careless and put myself in this terrible situation. Not only was I anxious but my parents, brothers, other family members, along with my friends were all anxious for me. This made me feel worse. Before the actual surgery, I had to go to nuclear medicine where I they started my Sentinal node biopsy process. They injected nuclear medicine where it would travel and highlight lymph nodes that might have been affected from the melanoma. They said it would a little pinch, well it felt like ten queen bees stinging me. Once that was completed, it was time to go the operation room. My surgery was called a wide excision of my skin. They removed two inches of skin each way from the mole and then removed six lymph nodes from my left groin. I went home with my family in a knee immobilizer, pain, and feeling anxious of waiting for a phone call from my doctor.
Finally after a little over a week my doctor called saying that my margins were clear and that cancer had not spread. I was so happy, I cried again. The relief showed on my family and friends and I was ready to go back to my life. However it was not as easy as I thought. A couple months after surgery, my left leg was always swollen. I finally made an appointment with my primary care and was diagnosed with lymphedema. With my lymph nodes removed from my groin, the fluid was not able to travel back into my body so it was pooling in my leg. I went through aggressive lymphedema treatments with compression wraps and a pneumo compression machine. I now own my own compression machine where I must place my leg in at least three or four times a week.
Since my diagnoses my anxiety levels have increased. I am constantly worried about my skin and if the cancer is going to come back. I have appointments with the Melanoma and Pigmented Lesion Center every three to six months. I have had multiple biopsies since my diagnoses and it a terrible feeling waiting for the phone call from your doctors with the results. I needed something more to help me get through this chapter of my life. I needed to talk to people who understood what I went through. I looked into IMPACT Melanoma for support and ways to volunteer and share my knowledge so as to prevent others from going through what I had gone through. That’s when I learned about the Shades of Hope gala. I went to the event not knowing anyone, but I left with many new close friends who completely understand all the feelings that I had experienced.
The gala was just the start of my volunteering opportunities with IMPACT Melanoma. I started to be guest speakers at local high schools and colleges for the “Your Skin Is In” program. I was able to share my story in hopes to change the minds of young adults and teenagers to stop tanning and protect their skin. This has helped me cope with my anxiety and I learned that this is what I was meant to do. I cannot change my past or undo what I did to myself when I was younger, but I hope that I can least educate on how everyone should protect their skin.