Early detection made all the difference
John was diagnosed with non-melanoma skin cancer, he stresses the importance of early detection.
John Ealey lives in Toronto, Ontario with his husband Evan. He was diagnosed with non-melanoma skin cancer in 2023.
“I had a lump above my right eyebrow and it felt different to other marks I have had on my face before and I kept thinking that I could feel a pulse. It was also more sensitive and itchy.”
John went to his family doctor and was referred to a dermatologist where the lump was excised and cauterized. When John got his pathology results back he was surprised to hear that he had squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).
“The clinic sent the results of the biopsy to both my doctor and my dermatologist. When at work I had a voicemail from my doctor saying I had a small amount of skin cancer, but not to worry as “it looks like they got everything”. He said that the dermatologist would follow up with me. This of course worried me immediately and I called the dermatologist. They did get back to me at the end of the day and explained the results in detail. However just hearing the word cancer was pretty stressful without any real explanation.”
Luckily the excision had removed all the tumour and only follow up treatment was needed.
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