I noticed a strange symptom after I had my monthly manicure – it saved my life
A MUM claims her monthly manicures “saved her life” after noticing a strange symptom during an appointment.
Michelle Tagliamonte, 58, spotted faint black lines on the nail of her her right thumb while getting a manicure in September last year.
But when the marks hadn’t grown out by her next nail session a month later, the mum-of-two decided to get it checked out as a precautionary measure.
After a trip to her dermatologist and a biopsy, the health coach was diagnosed with stage zero melanoma in her finger.
Michelle underwent a four-hour operation and skin graft on January 17 to have the cancer removed.
Graphic photos show the 58-year-old’s thumb bloodied with a large incision and stitches running down the side of her hand following surgery.
The nutrition educator will now be left without a right thumbnail for life.
But she claims getting her nails painted saved her life as it allowed her to catch the cancer at its earliest stage.
Now healing well, Michelle is sharing her story to urge anyone with even subtle changes to get themselves checked out.
Michelle, from Centreville, Ohio, US, said: “The first time I noticed it [the mark] was in September.
“I usually get my nails done every four weeks so I don’t know how long it has been there but my nails grow pretty quickly because I have really good nutrition.
“It could have been in there for six months, it could have been in there for longer, I have no idea.
“I took some photos of the lines and then I decided to get my nails done.
“I then saw them again in October [when I got my nails done again] and the lines hadn’t grown out.
“The lines were continuing to come from the base of the nail so I thought I should get it checked out.
“I found out around Thanksgiving that it was melanoma.
“What the dermatologist was seeing was discoloration at the base of my thumb nail and whatever was causing this black line in my nail was coming from inside the growth plate down from inside my nail.
“I was very confident it was nothing so when I got the diagnosis I was very shocked it was melanoma.
“The nail appointment absolutely saved my life. I am glad that I noticed it and then I pursued to get it checked out.”
According to Cancer Research UK, stage zero melanoma is also referred to as melanoma in situ, is when the cancer cells only lie in the top layer of the skin.
In these cases, surgery is the main treatment to have the cancer removed.
During Michelle’s operation, a plastic surgeon hand specialist took a skin graft from the bottom of her thumb to place over her exposed tendon and bone after they removed the cancer from her finger.
Michelle said she was “freaked out” at the idea of surgeons having to remove her nail.
She recalled: “I was more worried about what they were going to have to do to get rid of it and the surgery itself. This was scary.
What is melanoma, what are the symptoms and how can you prevent it?
Melanoma is the most serious type of skin cancer that has a tendency to spread around the body.
It is diagnosed 16,000 times per year, and tragically takes the lives of 2,340 people per year.
The number of people being diagnosed with melanoma is increasing, and it is the 5th most common cancer in the UK.
But it is also one of the most preventable cancers, with 86 per cent of cases in the UK avoidable.
The best way to protect yourself from melanoma is to be sun safe – wear SPF every day, wear a hat and sunglasses and keep out of the sun in the hottest hours. It is also advised to avoid sunbeds.
People who are fair-skinned, have blue or green eyes, blonde or red hair and a large number of freckles or moles are more likely to get skin cancer.
Surgery is the main treatment for melanoma, particularly if it is found early. This will involve removing the affected tissue in the skin.
Radiotherapy, medicines and chemotherapy are also sometimes used to try and stop the cancer from growing. Treatment depends on the severity of the disease.
What are the symptoms?
The key thing to look out for are changes to an existing mole, or a new mole on your skin.
Most experts recommend using the simple “ABCDE” rule to look for symptoms of melanoma skin cancer, which can appear anywhere on the body.
There are five letters/words to remember:
- Asymmetrical – melanomas usually have two very different halves and are an irregular shape
- Border – melanomas usually have a notched or ragged border
- Colours – melanomas will usually be a mix of two or more colours
- Diameter – most melanomas are usually larger than 6mm in diameter
- Enlargement or elevation – a mole that changes size over time is more likely to be a melanoma
A mole that changes size, shape or colour may be a melanoma.
But other signs to look out for include moles that are:
- Swollen and sore
- Bleeding
- Itchy
- Crusty
How deadly is it?
Melanoma is a deadly form of skin cancer.
The outlook of a person’s disease depends on the stage of the cancer when it was diagnosed.
Survival is better for women than it is for men.
“We don’t know exactly why this is. It may be because women are more likely to see a doctor about their melanoma at an earlier stage,” says Cancer Research UK.
The charity says that generally, statistics show that in England, more than 85 out of every 100 people (more than 85 per cent) will survive their melanoma for 10 years or more after they are diagnosed.
- Around 100 per cent in England diagnosed with melanoma at stage 1 – when the cancer cells are only in the top layer of skin – will survive for five years or more after diagnosis.This drops to 80 per cent for stage 2.
- Some 70 per cent live for a further five years when they are diagnosed in stage 3, which is when the cancer has started to spread to nearby lymph nodes.
- At stage 4, when the melanoma has spread elsewhere in the body, almost 30 per cent survive their cancer for 5 years or more.
Cancer Research says the stage 4 data does not account for age differences. Age can affect outlook and younger people have a better prognosis than older people.
Age can affect outlook and younger people have a better prognosis than older people.
What is melanoma?
Melanocytes are cells in the skin that give us the colour of our skin because they produce a pigment, known as melanin.
When you sit in the sun, melanocytes produce more pigment (a sun tan), which spreads to other skin cells to protect them from the sun’s rays.
But melanocytes are also where cancer starts.
Too much UV causes sunburn, and this is a sign of damage to the skin’s DNA.
The UV triggers changes in the melanocytes, which makes the genetic material become faulty and cause abnormal cell growth.
People who burn easily are more at risk of skin cancer because their cells do not produce as much pigment to protect their skin.
Those with albinism are at the most risk because their skin produces no pigment at all.
“The melanoma was in the growth plate [in my thumb] down to my first knuckle.
“This is where they had to cut out and they had to create a skin graft so when they had to dig out the melanoma, the bone and the tendon was exposed so they had to put some flesh back in it.
“The skin graft was pretty invasive. I will never have a thumb nail ever again but if I had let it go, I might have lost the tip of my thumb or worse so I am very grateful and it is healing well.”
‘Listen to your intuition’
Michelle had to get used to doing things differently after the surgery but has come to terms with not having a right thumbnail.
“[Since surgery], there is no permanent nerve damage. I have a scar that runs down my thumb and the skin is still healing and new skin is forming under the skin graft.
“I’m right-handed so the worst part was not being able to use this hand. For the first couple of weeks I couldn’t button my own trousers or put on my own bra.”
Signs of melanoma in your nails
Subungual melanoma, or nail melanoma, is skin cancer under your nail.
It usually appears as a dark, vertical streak on your nail.
Subungual melanoma is rare but serious.
Unlike other skin cancers, subungual melanoma isn’t linked to sun exposure.
It’s most likely to develop in your big toe, thumb or index finger.
It usually has a distinct shape, which some may describe it as looking like you drew a line on your nail with a black or brown marker.
It appears as a dark line on your nail and runs from bottom to top.
This streak or stripe may start small but grow to cover the entire nail and extend to the cuticle.
The line will typically get wider over time, and they can also multiply.
Source: Cleveland Clinic
Michelle is now urging others to trust their own intuition and get themselves checked out if they notice any changes in their body.
Michelle said: “I am very grateful that I caught it at stage zero and it was localised. I think it’s just a matter of being diligent to get myself checked out.
“I would just say don’t take anything for granted. I would definitely say that if you see something that is odd or different, listen to your own intuition and get it checked out.
“If I was afraid to get my nail checked out and removed, Lord only knows what the future could hold.”