Yvette D’Ath’s routine visit to hairdresser uncovers melanoma

Queensland’s Health Minister has undergone surgery to remove an early-stage melanoma on her scalp, picked up by a vigilant hairdresser during a visit in July.

Queensland’s Health Minister Yvette D’Ath has undergone surgery to remove a melanoma on her scalp, revealing it was her hairdresser who found the potentially deadly skin cancer.

In an exclusive interview with The Courier-Mail, Ms D’Ath has told how a July 26 birthday salon visit with Tahnee Hudson potentially saved her life when Hudson, 36, spotted something “unusual” on the Minister’s scalp.

“I’ve told Tahnee that hairdressers are our new frontline health workers saving lives,” said D’Ath, 52, said on the eve of her operation at a Brisbane hospital on Wednesday.

“If she had not seen what was on my scalp and spoken up about it I could be facing a very different situation today.

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath has been diagnosed with a Melanoma on her head. Picture: Zak Simmonds

“I have been told by my doctor that the melanoma was “in situ’’ which means it has been discovered at the earliest opportunity, so I was extremely lucky that Tahnee was so vigilant.”

The Minister said she was getting her hair done when Ms Hudson, owner of The Mandala Room hair salon at Deception Bay, stopped and asked her if she had her skin checked.

“I said I did, but she asked me to pass her my phone so she could take a photo of something, and then she showed it to me,” Ms D’Ath said.

The photo taken by hairdresser Tahnee Hudson.

“I knew what a bad skin spot looks like, it was abnormal at the edges, it had dark spots, so I rang the skin doctor the next day and got in the following week for a biopsy, and the results confirmed what I thought when I saw it.

“I have educated myself on what to look for, so I had a pretty fair idea this was not going to be good.”

For her part, Ms Hudson said this was the second time she’d spotted a melanoma on a client’s scalp.

“We have a not often seen view of someone’s head, somewhere that they are unlikely to see easily, and very often the melanoma is covered or partly covered by hair,” Hudson, who has been a hairdresser for 20 years, said.

“With Yvette, I was sectioning her hair to put a couple of foils in and I saw it straight away. “It was not a consistent circle, its colour was uneven, its edges were uneven and I think I probably knew it was not benign, but I didn’t want to panic her.

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath after the operation to remove an early-stage melanoma.

“She’s a very nice lady, so I stayed calm, asked for her phone, showed her, and I’m so glad she went straight to her doctors.”

Ms D’Ath underwent a one hour operation under a general anaesthetic on Thursday, and told The Courier-Mail she was “sore, but relieved”.

“I’m very relieved they got it early, the operation went well and I’m hoping for a quick recovery,” she said.

As Health Minister, Ms D’Ath said she wanted to share her story with all Queenslanders to remind them to get regular skin checks and the importance of sun safety.

“I am very happy to tell this story and share my photos publicly because if one person reads it or sees this, and goes and gets themselves checked and finds something they otherwise may not have, then I will be very pleased,” she said.

“We live in the skin cancer capital of the world, our UV rating is among the highest in the world, and like a lot of other Queenslanders I grew up going to the beach putting sunscreen on in the morning and then spending all day at the beach without reapplying and getting burnt.

“This is my first melanoma, but I got my first spot treated about 15 years ago and since then I have had about 12 benign skin cancers removed, and some of them are so unimportant looking, just tiny little pink spots, so I really want people to know the importance of getting their skin checked.

Tahnee Hudson at her salon The Mandala Room at Deception Bay. Picture: Tara Croser.

“And I really want to thank Tahnee, I have only been going to her since the start of the year and I don’t go to the hairdresser very often so if she hadn’t spoken up, because melanomas can advance quickly, my situation could be very different.

“I’ve told she’s my hero, and she said she was going to go and buy a cape.”

The Minster chuckles. “I told her she already had plenty of capes in the salon, she just had to turn one around”.

“But I really hope that someone who reads this and has been putting off getting their skin checked, does so. We all need to look after ourselves and each other.’’