A nail technician refused to give a woman a manicure after spotting something on her hand, and saved her life. Stacey Boss said she spotted a thin brown streak that had been lurking under the fake nails on her right thumb that she just shrugged off until a nail technician spotted it.
The 32-year-old says she was refused a manicure and instead advised to book an appointment with a dermatologist. The mum-of-one said she visited her GP shortly after, was referred to a dermatologist, and had her nail and part of her bone removed.
On the same day the record label owner was diagnosed with subungual melanoma - a rare type of skin cancer that occurs under the nails. Stacey, who previously had a brain tumour, said doctors have now suggested other investigations to determine whether or not the cancer has spread to other parts of her body, like her lymph nodes.
She claims the nail technician prompting her to get it checked out could have possibly saved her life and that she now gets a shellac French manicure for a reduced price, due to having less fingernails. The music lover is now keen to raise awareness of the importance of everybody checking nails for abnormalities as regularly as possible.
Stacey said: "A nail technician refused to do a manicure and asked me to have it investigated with dermatology. I was very confused, I didn't know anything about how melanoma skin cancer could be in a nail bed. It was mind boggling.
"I'd noticed it for a long time and just kind of shrugged it off as maybe a bruise. I'd just got used to it and it wasn't until someone pointed it out that it was a big shocking moment.
"The nail technician possibly saved my life, she's well trained and was very aware, more than me."
The rapper says she visited a GP and was referred to a dermatologist. She had her first assessment in the last week of October 2022 and eventually had a biopsy of her nail bed and it removed on March 27 this year.
Stacey said: "It was like a streak, it was like someone had marked my nail with a permanent marker from the cuticle to the top. It was thin and skinny and almost as if someone had dented a mark on it, by the end it looked like a smiley face due to the shadow of the line, the dent and the way the cuticle grows.
"It was weird how it just kept growing up, up until the point of removal that's how it was. The way it's cut out has removed even down to the bone. It was such a relief to have it out I'll tell you that.
"It wasn't a shock to be told I had this cancer, as I'd already known. I believe it was the same way I knew I had a brain tumour, I knew something was wrong. I had anxiety, my whole body was changing, the line was never going away, it was always there.
"I'd accepted the possibility of losing my nail so that mentally I was prepared for it being in situ. I'd tell others to check your nails, maybe not a daily thing but every now and again."
Subungual melanoma is a rare type of skin cancer that occurs under the nails. Symptoms include streaks on the nails, colour changes in or around the nail, a bruise under the nail that does not heal, and the nails separating from the nail bed.
One of the key indications of subungual melanoma is 'Hutchinson's sign'. This is when a person has nail pigment that extends onto the skin surrounding the nail.
