Melanoma: How a small mole led to skin cancer and toe amputation

Natalie Fornasier went from being a carefree university student to fighting for her life after a mole she’s had on her foot since childhood developed into stage three melanoma.

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When Natalie Fornasier woke up to find her legs covered in bruises, she first thought she must have fallen while sleepwalking.

But, in the next few weeks, Ms Fornasier went from being a carefree university student to fighting for her life against skin cancer, with doctors amputating her toe and removing the lymph nodes in her groin.

That pivotal moment came during a month-long world trip while she was sailing the Greek Islands and she was just one week from coming home and resuming her studies at the University of Sydney.

Natalie Fornasier, 24, from Wahroonga was diagnosed with stage three melanoma when she was 20 years old. Picture: David Swift

But when her travel companions said they hadn’t heard her stumble in the night, she decided to check her toe.

She had a mole on her foot that doctors had instructed she “keep an eye on” from childhood. Now it had grown and, once flat, was elevated.

“I knew it had to come out,” she said.

“I wasn’t thinking about cancer because I was feeling perfectly healthy. By the time I flew home, some of the bruises had faded.”

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But doctors diagnosed her with stage three melanoma and the Wahroonga resident said she felt out of control and frightened.

“I felt useless and scared,” she said.

“It was traumatic. I couldn’t look at my foot. They told me they thought they had caught it all but melanoma is a dormant cancer. All it takes is for one cell to attach ­itself somewhere.”

After almost five years had passed with no sign of the cancer, Ms Fornasier defied her doctor’s advice to travel to Italy where she met and fell in love with 23-year-old German Alexander ­Puchta at a party in Venice.

“I told him my story and that the cancer could come back,” she said.

“I also had lymphedema — my leg was swollen from the lymph nodes being removed — but it didn’t deter him and he’s stuck with me ever since.”

Their joy was short-lived. Within two weeks of returning home, a routine six-monthly scan showed nodules in her lungs.

With surgery not an ­option, the only treatment was immunotherapy, using drugs to boost the body’s own immune system to fight the cancer.

The drugs have so far done the job, shrinking the tumours to the point where they cannot be measured.

Natalie Fornasier with her partner Alexander Puchta, who has supported her through her battle with cancer. Picture: David Swift

However, the 24-year-old, who has also undergone IVF to harvest her eggs, said she wanted to encourage young women to be proactive in checking their moles and ­reduce their skin cancer risk through sun protection.

“If I come off the drugs, the cancer could come back,” she said.

“Some days are hard, ­especially the day after treatment when my body is so fed up and I have to spend the day in bed, but there are other days when I feel normal.”

Ms Fornasier said she wanted to finish her degree in journalism and focus on educating the community to skin cancer via a campaign she has launched called #CallTimeonMelanoma.

“I think we have become complacent,” she said.

“I see young women baking in the sun trying to emulate their role models on social media and how they’re putting themselves at risk. Are they serious? I also think schools should have regular skin checks of students to get them into the habit of checking their skin. You can protect your skin from the sun and still be diagnosed like me, so it is about knowing your body.”

Yet Ms Fornasier said she would not have done anything differently.

“If I didn’t go through what I have, I wouldn’t have met Alexander,” she said.

“I ­believe my calling is to educate others and that’s what I plan to do. To remind people to check their skin.”

* For more information, go to melanoma.org.au

Originally published as Melanoma: How a small mole led to skin cancer and toe amputation