03-07-2025
Woman says skin cancer diagnosis changed her life
A woman from Jersey said her life "changed forever" after she was diagnosed with skin Hewit, 64, discovered a new "raised but bumpy" mark on her skin last year but said she was not concerned at the on a routine check to her doctor, she was subsequently sent to hospital and it was confirmed the mole was a melanoma - a serious type of skin cancer which can spread to other parts of the has urged others to see their doctor if they find something unusual on their skin, and said: "Just make that appointment and go and see and make sure that it's safe."
'Changes life forever'
After doctors at Jersey General Hospital removed the mole, Ms Hewit was sent to Southampton for further tests and has subsequently undergone 10 months of immunotherapy, and is hoping to complete her treatment later this Hewit, who owns a kiosk on Jersey's Gorey beach, said it had "changed my life forever"."But you have to be positive, you just have to take each treatment as it comes, move on."The thing that I always say to myself is, 'it won't always be like this.'"Skin cancer is the most common cancer to affect people in the Channel Islands, and the mortality rate for skin cancer is higher in Jersey than in England.
Ms Hewit praised cancer charity Macmillan Jersey for its support and understanding while she has undergone said that she had not previously been worried about skin safety, but her attitude had changed as a consequence of her diagnosis."Now I get up, I shower, I come out of the shower, I get dried off and I completely cover in sunscreen," she said."My bag has always got plenty of sunscreen in, which I reapply every couple of hours."I've got my hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, and they're always with me all the time now."
Ms Hewit added: "Now I very much advocate for my own health. "If there's something that I'm not sure about, then I get it seen to."We're not GPs. We're not dermatologists. We can't take that risk with our own health."
