Bubbly 29 year old with Melanoma Stage 3A Cancer

My names Sarah and I am 29 years old living in Auckland.I appreciate that you have clicked on my story to take the time to read it.I never thought I would be hear to share this story.I’m thankfully still here and going strong.It all started in November 2020 when I decided to get a small mole cut off ,was a freckle that turned into a mole.I had been to the gp and another company(not naming names) in February 2020 and was told it looks ok and if I want to cut it off it’s up to me,otherwise come back in feb 2021.Anyway I got it cut off as it would always be a annoyance.Wow to my surprise the gp told me it was melanoma.Honestly I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.I was in total shock.2 weeks later and I’m in hospital December 3rd.Wow I had an amazing surgeons and nurses,they looked after me so well.What they did was do a bigger cut on my leg which is healing perfectly.Also a lymph node was removed and came back as cancer stage 3.I couldn’t believe it, as a human I felt normal I just can’t understand that all this was happening in my body without feeling any symptoms.So next step was a full body scan and came back clear for now,I burst into tears,what a journey it’s been in a few months.After that next I had to decide regular scans,having another surgery and removing all my lymph nodes on my left leg with risk of of lymphodema in my leg or treatment for 1 year called immunotherapy.All this is new to me .I have learnt so much.Taking the treatment option I realise it’s the best chance of living longer ,not only cancer can live in your lymph nodes it can also be in your blood.I’m 29 years old and still have so much I want to do in this life,my partner and I would love to start a family once I finish my treatment.My treatment will last for 1 year,every 3 weeks I have to drive to north shore to have it.I feel like this is the right decision.Also all this happened just before Christmas,my family/friends and I have been through so much in 2 months and I can say I’m lucky to be alive.Another thing the lymph nodes were optional,if I didn’t have them taken out I wouldn’t be able to tell you my story.We had a lovely Christmas and now I’m looking forward to start my first dose at the start of the new year.I’m only 29 I’m thinking about a house/kids/wedding/travel not using all my savings just to keep me alive,my priority is now just survival.I just never in a million years thought I would have cancer this young it didn’t even cross my mind.It has changed me a lot,I would love now to be able to tell others my story and show people what can happen at any age,wear a hat,wear sunscreen just to help even 1 person to stop this happening to them.I just want to help others that might be in the same situation I was in.Let’s kill this Melanoma so I can continue this great journey we call life.Lots of love and thank you to anyone that will support me ,my wish is to keep living I haven’t finished yet still so much to do.