Katherine Ryan has shared a photo of the mole on her arm which turned out to be skin cancer.
The comedian, 41, announced last week that she’d been diagnosed with melanoma for the second time, 20 years after the first.
Now, the Duchess star has shared a picture of the mole – which was larger than a normal freckle, and pinky-red in colour – before it was surgically removed.
‘Here’s a photo of the melanoma (which tbf really does not look like melanoma) in the office before they took it off,’ she wrote on top of a photo posted to her Instagram story.
On Telling Everybody Everything, Katherine explained how she visited the doctors over the mole but was told not to worry.
‘I know you should never google things but I’m actually really worried,’ she confessed. ‘Normally I’m that positive person.
‘I think it’s really easy to take a diagnosis of “you’re healthy” and “walk away”.
She continued: ‘But the mole kept changing, I know a lot about melanoma, I had melanoma as a very young woman – aged 21 – on my leg, I’ve spoken about that before.
‘It was flat, it wasn’t that big but it was melanoma. It is a deadly form of skin cancer and it does spread quickly.’
What is melanoma
As Katherine shared, melanoma is a form of skin cancer which is known to be particularly aggressive.
It grows from the melanocytes, the cells which form melanin and give skin its pigment.
Melanoma is known to grow quickly and can spread to other organs. Early detection — which Katherine has — is crucial in fighting it.
While it is the most deadly skin cancer, survival rates have been improving and around 87% of patients live for over 10 years after diagnosis.
Melanoma symptoms
- A new mole, or change in an existing one, may be a sign of melanoma
- Moles are usually round, with straight edges. Ones with an uneven shape or edge could be a symptom.
- Moles with a mix of colours in them
- Melanomas tend to be larger than normal moles
Other signs include moles that are sore, swollen, bleeding, itchy, or crusty.
Luckily, Katherine followed her gut and insisted the doctor remove the mole.
Having looked at the mole again, insisting it’s not melanoma, the doctor sent a shave away for testing.
The TV comedian added: ‘He rang me today and it did come back as melanoma. Early melanoma. The doctor was shocked and told me I need to go back.
‘It just feels crazy to me, what could have happened, if I hadn’t been my own advocate – and I will continue to be my own advocate.’
Earlier this week, Katherine revealed she’d had the mole removed.
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In her university years, Katherine had a ‘golf ball-sized lump’ on her leg removed, and since she’s had her moles meticulously checked and removed.
The Taskmaster star lives in London with her childhood sweetheart Bobby Kootstra. who she married in 2019 after rekindling their romance a year earlier.
have a son named Fred, two, and baby daughter Fenna Grace, who was born in December 2022.
Katherine is also mum to Violet, 14, from a previous relationship when she was 25.
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