Fallon and Ryan Glassop are an Australian couple who are using the drama they’ve been through over the last year to educate people about the dangers of skin cancer.

Of course, you should know the drill by now. We’ve been taught for years to protect ourselves from the sun, check out moles, and report abnormalities to our doctors. But it’s easy to assume a mole has always been there or has always looked like that.

However, ignoring the signs of skin cancer could cost you your life.

Last year, Ryan had what he thought was a simple sunspot on the back of his neck. Unable to see it up close for himself, it wasn’t until someone pointed it out to him that he decided to have it checked.

This is a common location for spots to occur because it’s typically where we get sunburned if we’re not protected. It’s easy to forget the backs of our necks and our ears, for example, even if we are applying sunscreen.

When Ryan had it tested it was melanoma: skin cancer.

The first sign of melanoma is a new spot on your skin or a change in the size, shape, or color of an existing mole. Doctors recommend an easy-to-remember ABCDE method to help decide if you should see a doctor about a spot on your skin:

• Asymmetry: Does the mole has an irregular shape?
• Border: Is the edge not smooth, but irregular?
• Color: Does the mole have uneven shading or dark spots?
• Diameter: Is the spot larger than the size of a pencil eraser?
• Evolving or Elevation: Has the spot changed in size, shape or texture?

If you’re not sure, it doesn’t hurt to mention it to your physician so they can take a look.

Ryan was fortunate to have access to a skin check at work. That’s when something that “started out so small, turned into something that none of us were ready for,” according to a post Fallon made on Facebook.

What followed was 40+ biopsies of his neck and back, 1 of his lung, and 4 surgeries.

And Fallon pointed out that when you have a mole or spot removed, doctors take the area around it as well until there are no cancer cells left:

“The thing is, with any skin cancer, not only do they remove the affected area of skin, but they also take a boundary around it. Ryan’s boundaries kept coming back abnormal…”

They had to take more and more skin from around the mole and Ryan was diagnosed with a skin condition called Nevus Spilus.

Those types of lesions don’t typically metastasize and become melanomas, but they can. And Ryan’s did.

Then came the surgeries, the most recent one in May 2019, in which doctors had to remove a large chunk of skin and perform a skin graft on the area.

“In May 2019 a large area of skin from his neck and back needed to be taken. So in his 4th surgery, Ryan had a skin graft, removing skin from both legs to cover section on his neck and back.”

In her post, Fallon praised her husband’s strength throughout the ordeal, which has been traumatic and painful.

But the couple also hopes something good comes out of it.

“This whole experience has been hugely challenging for all of us, but if anything good is to come out of this, it is that we now want to help raise more awareness of Skin Cancer. Melanoma accounts for 10% of all skin cancers, which is why it is so important that everyone has regular skin checks.”

As Fallon said as she concluded her post, “…life is too precious to just bake yourself in the sun and not worry about your skin.” Yet so many people take it for granted that they can go without sun protection or re-application.

The comments on the post are more testaments to the havoc skin cancer can wreak on people’s bodies and lives.

Be sure to scroll down to see Fallon’s original post and click here to see how you can do a frequent self-check of your own skin.

Melanoma has a 99% survival rate IF it’s caught in its earliest stages.

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Source: A Little Beauty via Facebook, TODAY