'I was so paranoid': 'Pimple' causes health scare for Aussie mum

Two years ago, Gold Coast mum Rebecca Cook noticed something she thought was odd. She never could have imagined where she would end up.

Queensland mum Rebecca Cook has always lived an outdoorsy lifestyle.

But, living on the Gold Coast, this wouldn’t come as a surprise. As her kids grew up, they did Nippers, and spent endless days at the beach and the park.

But, that’s not what caused her to get a sclerotic basal cell carcinoma.

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Image: Supplied / Rebecca Cook.

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“There was a possibility that I may have needed radiation therapy”

Two years ago, Rebecca first noticed a spot on the tip of her right ear.

“It was literally a little, white dot on my ear, and I just found it pulling back my hair,” she told Kidspot.

“I said to my girlfriend, ‘Can you have a look at it? Is it a pimple?’, and she’s like ‘It doesn’t look like a pimple, I’d just get it checked’.”

A nurse herself, Rebecca was quick to take her advice.

“I was working for a cardiologist at the time, and we had a GP that specialised in skin cancers, so I got her to have a look for me, and she said ‘That looks like a BCC, I’m going to refer you to a plastic surgeon’,” she said.

And, the plastic surgeon agreed - it was a basal cell carcinoma.

It’s the most common type of skin cancer, but that doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous, especially in Rebecca’s case.

She went in for surgery a week later, where the plastic surgeon took a piece out of her ear and had skin grafted from behind her ear to rebuild it. And, when she went back in to have the sutures removed, she found out the truth.

“It wasn’t just an ordinary BCC, it was an infiltrating sclerotic BCC - so quite nasty, and travelling - so I had to go and see him every three months for a check up, because there was a possibility that I may have needed radiation therapy,” she said.

Image: Supplied / Rebecca Cook.

“I now keep sunscreen in my car!”

Thankfully, just last week, Rebecca got the all-clear. But, in that time, a lot of things have changed.

While she said she was always sun safe, things have gone to the next level.

“I’ve always been sun safe, my kids did Nippers when they were younger. For years and years and years we were always on the beach, but we were always wearing hats, sunscreen, I was always putting sunscreen on their ears and my ears,” she said.

“But, I was so paranoid after that that I now keep sunscreen in my car!”

And, she said it was in places like this that sun safety became most important, after being told that sun in the car was likely how she got here in the first place.

“The ear that I got it removed off is my drivers’ side window,” she said.

“When you’re driving to work you don’t think too much about putting sunscreen on - it’s usually when you go to the beach, or if you’re at the park. I wouldn’t even do that if I was hanging out the washing on the weekend. Whereas now, I’m so vigilant about wearing sunscreen. I was like, should I be wearing a hat in the car?”

And, the messaging has even rubbed off on her kids, age 16 and 17.

“If they come home sunburnt, I am so angry!” she said.

“My daughter now has [sunscreen] in her skin routine every morning. She’ll cleanse, moisturise and sunscreen every day.”

Image: Supplied / Rebecca Cook.

“Don’t let the cooler weather fool you”

Now, most of all, Rebecca is encouraging everyone to get their skin checked. And, according to Moshy Dermatologist Doctor Ludi Ge, winter is one of the most important times to stay vigilant.

“While summer’s intense sun prompts caution seeing people actively applying sunscreen when they’re heading to the beach or playing sport, but in winter’s cooler climate it can lull people into a false sense of security and they forget to apply sunscreen or wear a hat,” she said.

“When it comes to skin checks people need to be monitoring areas that don’t necessarily get the most exposure, including in between the fingers and toes, on the scalp and hairline, the soles of your feet and the abdomen.

“Don’t let the cooler weather fool you, incorporating sun protection into your daily routine 365 days of the year and making skin checks an annual habit could save your life.”

But, Rebecca is also pushing for better access for these important appointments.

“I would love to see more bulk billing practices on the Gold Coast,” she said.

“I phoned up to get me and the kids in - because I want to get their skin checked as well - and it’s like $175 each.”

Rebecca said she’s hoping to see it become more attainable in the near future, as melanoma incidence rates are still on the rise in Australia, with 70 cases per 100,000 people in 2024 - up from 53 per 100,000 in 2000, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

“They’re charging a lot for skin checks, and I don’t want that to deter people from getting their skin checked, because it’s so expensive,” she said.

“The cost of living these days, just to house and feed your kids is enough. To go and spend money on [getting your skin checked]… there’s going to be a lot more nasty outcomes if they keep charging for skin checks.”

Originally published as 'I was so paranoid': 'Pimple' causes health scare for Aussie mum