When it comes to minimizing a cancer journey, early detection is key, and Janet Frega, it was a difference-maker.  On today’s Cancer Interviews podcast, we will hear how Janet, with the aid of her daughter, detected a spot that turned into a diagnosis of skin cancer.  Thanks to early detection, the diagnosis was stage zero in situ melanoma.  It was immediately addressed, and Jane achieved survivorship.

 

Janet Frega lives in Oradell, New Jersey, but in 2017, she found herself in Ann Arbor, Michigan, attending her daughter’s graduation from nursing school at the University of Michigan.  While Janet was in her hotel room and wearing a sleeveless dress, her daughter noticed a spot on the back of one of her arms and said as soon as Janet got home, she should get it checked out. 

 

Janet visited a dermatologist who saw the spot and said a biopsy was needed.  It was performed and Janet was told to return in a week.  When she came back, Janet was asked by a nurse how the spot was found, and Janet related the story of her daughter finding it.  That when the nurse told Janet, “That’s a good thing because if she hadn’t found it, you might not be here in a year.” 

 

The dermatologist entered the room and said the biopsy had revealed melanoma, but that Janet was fortunate.  The diagnosis was stage zero in situ melanoma, which means the cancer had not penetrated the epidermis, so it was contained in the top layer.  She did say, however, that it had to be removed, and that it could be done right in the office.   Her arm was numbed and cut the spot’s area and went deep to ensure clean margins.  The operation’s scar was far bigger than the spot. 

 

Post-op tests indicated there would be no need for additional procedures or treatment.  However, Janet did have to go in for checkups every three months for the next two years, then once every six months and eventually once a year. 

 

Janet Frega is extremely grateful for the life-saving action of her daughter, which came after she had not been to a dermatologist in more than two years.

 

Janet and her husband go to the beach in South Carolina every summer, but she is sure to put on sunscreen, sit under an umbrella and she wears a hat. 

 

By way of advice, Janet says to regularly visit a dermatologist, and between visits if you notice something unusual on her skin to bring it to the doctor’s attention.