A dilemma no mother-to-be should face
31 January 2018
Clair faced an impossible choice – risk delivering her baby early, or delay potentially life-saving melanoma treatment.
She was 38 weeks’ pregnant with her first child when she received the news that a suspicious looking mole on her face was melanoma. Her medical team advised her she needed urgent surgery to remove the melanoma.
“It was pretty scary,” Clair said. “We discussed getting me into surgery that week but that would require knocking me out and with that there was a great risk of me going into labour in the operating theatre and waking up with my baby. That wasn’t something I wanted.”
Luckily, Clair and her medical team were able to formulate a plan which enabled her to give birth to her son and then have the surgery shortly afterwards.
“You’re breast feeding at the time, you have to fast for the surgery, you’re away from your baby - you have all those fears running through your mind,” Clair recalls.
Clair’s surgery was a success and she has since had three more children. She is grateful her employer, Brightside Cover, is supporting melanoma research by coming on board as Principal Partner for Melanoma March.
Clair’s is the latest in a series of emotive videos launched by Melanoma Institute Australia, showing the impact of melanoma on everyday Australians. Watch her story here and join her in the fight against melanoma by signing up for a Melanoma March event near you.
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