'If I had ignored it and it had spread any deeper, I wouldn’t be here today'

A skin cancer survivor's warning

Skin cancer survivor Kristen Werner sits down with Body+Soul to share how her shocking diagnosis at age 22 changed her entire approach to sun safety. 

Confident you’re taking enough precautionary measures to protect yourself from the wrath of the Australian sun? According to new research, it’s likely you aren’t. As one lucky Aussie can attest, even the most precocious of us are at risk of developing a deadly melanoma. 

For 39-year-old Kristen Werner, a skin cancer diagnosis in her early twenties was the last thing she ever could have predicted. “I was sitting in the waiting room with 55+ year olds. This kind of stuff should not happen to me at 22!” she recalls thinking. 

“I was incredibly sun aware,” she recounts. “I have blue eyes, blonde hair, pale skin, and I never tan, so there was never a point in sitting in the sun!”

Like most of us, Werner was taught from childhood to take a pretty conservative approach when it came to spending time in the sun, eventually shaping what she believed to be an effective approach to sun protection.

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Still, at age 22, Werner received a shocking skin cancer diagnosis after flagging a particularly concerning mole on her forehead, “Even when my gut feeling was telling something was wrong, I was also telling myself ‘it couldn’t be possible, that wouldn't’ happen to me!’ That is why I'm a huge advocate for sun awareness and sharing my story,” she says.  

Now, a passionate advocate for skin cancer prevention, Werner says she incorporates sun safety into every aspect of her life, wearing SPF-graded products every day and rocking the glow of a fake tan on occasion. 

“I sit in the shade, wear cool hats, look after myself and more importantly always make sure my kids are also sun smart!” Werner says, describing the daily habits that help her minimise her exposure to the harmful effects of UV. 

Adequate skin cancer prevention requires more than a coat or two of SPF. Image: Unsplash

The shocking new research 

Sadly, Werner’s story is one that is all too common among Aussies, as revealed by new research courtesy of the TAL Spotchecker campaign.

As the stats demonstrate, 82 per cent of Aussie women feel they could be doing more to protect their skin from the risk of cancer, with 72 per cent admitting they should be self-checking their skin more often.

According to Dr Priya Chagan, TAL’s General Manager of Health Services, the data paints a somewhat concerning picture of our collective approach to skin checking, “The TAL SpotChecker research tells us that Australians have good intentions around how they can protect themselves from the sun,” she says. 

“In reality, 70 per cent admit they sometimes forget to protect themselves from skin cancer, and less than half (43 per cent) of Australians consider sun safety as part of their daily routine,” the expert adds. “This is concerning because even just a few instances of severe, unprotected sun exposure can have dire consequences for skin health outcomes.”

If consistent sunscreen application and a sturdy wide-brimmed aren’t cutting it, how can we best avoid a life-altering diagnosis? Image: iStock

How are we supposed to protect ourselves?

If you’ve grown up in Australia, you’re probably familiar with the infamous ‘slip, slop, slap’ saying, a notion of prevention and protection instilled in us as children. However, as the new research reveals, our long-held preventative habits simply aren’t doing enough to sufficiently protect us from skin cancer. 

Werner says her biggest regret was not being proactive with routine skin checks throughout her youth, “What could have been a simple appointment with my doctor to get my skin checked could have prevented what is still by far the worst moments of my life,” she says.

Speaking from experience, Werner says it’s just human nature to assume a skin cancer diagnosis won’t happen to us, rendering many scare tactics by big organisations useless. Instead, she says the most effective way to protect our skin from sun damage is to undergo regular skin checks, voicing any concerns with a health professional the moment they arise. 

“My other tip is to take photos! You are the only one who knows if a mole changes and your doctor can be so much more informed if you can show them images,” she adds. “It’s the least you can do.”

Originally published as 'If I had ignored it and it had spread any deeper, I wouldn’t be here today'