I have decided to create this blog as I got diagnosed with a Malignant Melanoma (skin cancer) on my left forearm in 2025. This was all totally new to me, and I’ll admit it was also very scary. I had no clue what the diagnosis meant and what was to happen next as I had lived a fairly healthy life up until then. I wanted to write the blog to document my journey for a few different reasons:

I’m not a great talker and I found myself holding a lot of worries, concerns etc inside. So I thought it may be therapeutic to write down what I was going through

I don’t want to be a preacher but I do feel it is important to speak about skin cancer, and the signs to look out for. By doing so I would like to try and ensure that, after what has happened to me, you have information readily available should you have any concerns

I haven’t ever experienced cancer before so a lot of what came next was brand new to me, and a lot of times I was left to wonder what the next step would be. If you are in the same position as me, I am hoping that you will find some of the stuff that I have written to be useful

I also want this blog to be a tribute to the fantastic hospital staff across the Churchill, John Radcliffe and Nuffield hospitals in Oxford. The NHS does get some really bad publicity but I can offer nothing but thanks for the way that they have looked after me, and treated me with kindness, honesty and urgency. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!

You are probably wondering why is your blog called Proud of my scar? Well, to date I have had 2 operations on my left forearm (I have written details about them in my blogs) which left me, initially, with a scar about 5cm long and then a second operation which left me with a pretty huge zig zag/S shaped scar. After I had my first operation in Nov 2025, I would look at the scar with dread. I really did hate looking at it, and couldn’t stand the thought that I would be left with this scar for the rest of my life. Then one day, out of the blue, a totally different perspective came into my head. I shouldn’t hate the scar, I should be proud of it. Because without that scar, that Melanoma could still be growing inside me, and that is what I should really be dreading. So that scar could end up giving me some extra years that I may not have had without it which made me happy and proud.

All of my blogs can be found via the ‘Read my Blogs’ hyperlink at the top right of the page. But I have added some links to some of the blogs below for you as well. I have also added info that I have collected over the last few months into the ‘Melanoma Info’ hyperlink that you can see at the top right of the page. I hope that you will find this useful.