Former AFLW Cats player Renee Garing lucky after skin cancer scare

A teacher and former AFLW player who had a melanoma cut from her leg while heavily pregnant is urging people to get their skin checked.

Renee Garing shares her journey of having a skin cancer removed from her leg to encourage others to get their skin checked. Picture: Alan Barber

             

A former AFLW Cats player is encouraging people to be sun smart and get their skin checked after a melanoma was cut out of her leg in the final trimester of her pregnancy.

Renee Garing had a skin check on October 3 and her doctor found a mole she didn’t like the look of, and took a biopsy.

Ms Garing, 36, found out on October 11 that the biopsy came back as an early stage melanoma.

It was found to be non-invasive and she had the rest of the melanoma and tissue around the cancer also removed soon after.

“Given I am currently 35 weeks pregnant (the doctor) said ‘In case you have the baby tomorrow we’ll get it out now’,” Ms Garing said.

“I received the results on Thursday evening and as hoped they have got it all.”

Renee Garing, who is 35 weeks pregnant, and her son Parker. Picture: Alan Barber

Ms Garing said she was lucky the cancer was found early.

“I certainly wasn’t expecting that they would find anything, it was a shock because I had skin checks through the football club over the past few years and everything had been fine before,” she said.

“At the same time I was reassured it was caught so early and we weren’t having to talk about further treatments other than the incision to get the margins (around it).

“I think it would have been completely different if it had been further along … being pregnant adds another layer (to the situation).”

As a schoolteacher, Ms Garing said she was conscious about sunscreen and hats with students and herself during terms one and two.

She said since becoming a parent to her son Parker, 2, her sunscreen game had stepped up, and it was important to wear it all over the body, including legs and feet.

”At footy training I never really wore a hat but I did wear sunscreen, although not all year-round,” she said.

“That’s something in the winter months when we’re still outside and the UV is still there that I could do better.”

The surgical scar on Renee Garing's leg is healing after she had a skin cancer removed earlier this month. Picture: Alan Barber

Ms Garing said it was also important for adults to get their skin checked regularly.

“The sooner the better because from conversations I am having, people even younger than me have been diagnosed with different forms of skin cancer,” she said.

“Be aware of your skin because knowing your body and keeping an eye out for something that might be new or different is important.”

Almost 19,000 Australians are estimated to be diagnosed with melanoma this year and skin cancer kills more than 2000 every year.

Professor Anne Cust, chair of Cancer Council’s National Skin Cancer Committee, said new data from the council reinforced Australians were not doing enough to protect themselves in summer.

“We want people to make sun protection a part of their daily routine, so that they’re protected from incidental sun exposure,” she said.

Originally published as Former AFLW Cats player Renee Garing lucky after skin cancer scare