A Welsh mum was diagnosed with skin cancer while pregnant after getting checked when one of her moles started to bleed. Nicola Orme noticed earlier this year that the large mole on her arm had changed in recent months and decided to get it checked out.
The 33-year-old from Llandudno, who had already been advised to get it checked out when visiting a nurse during her pregnancy, underwent a biopsy and was given the devastating news that she had melanoma, a type of skin cancer that is often caused by too much sun exposure. To make matters worse a week before she was supposed to have an operation Nicola’s waters broke and Lincoln, her baby son, was born nine weeks prematurely. Nicola and husband Mark already have two other boys aged six and two and a half.
NorthWalesLive reported that Mark, who works for Conwy council as a fitness manager, said: “Lincoln spent a month in the special care baby unit at Ysbyty Gwynedd. When he was born he weighed 4lb 3oz and now he was weighs 5lb 6oz – he’s still tiny but the staff in the SCBU are very happy with him.
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“Because of the boys and all what has been going on with Lincoln we haven’t had too much time to focus on what has been happening with Nicola – it’s good in a way to have our minds taken away from it. Her mole has been operated on and been taken out and now we are just waiting to see if she needs any more treatment to see if it has spread."
The 39-year-old added: “It’s an anxious time as I sadly lost my mum to melanoma when she was only 48.” Mark said his wife used to love sunbathing and now regrets not being as vigilant in applying sunscreen to herself as she always has done so to her children. Throughout this extremely challenging time the family said what has really shone through is the “incredible professionalism, compassion, and empathy” that has been shown to them by the various NHS staff that they have met.
“In particular the team on the SCBU ward at Ysbyty Gwynedd have cared for Lincoln so well and been kind and considerate to all of our family at every step of the way so far,” said Mark. “Lincoln is the second of our three sons who has received care within SCBU at Ysbyty Gwynedd and for this reason I want to give something back and raise some funds for the unit through Awyr Las, the north Wales NHS Charity.”
On Friday, October 14, starting at 7am, he is aiming to walk the six main routes up Snowdon/Yr Wyddfa within 36 hours, finishing by 7pm on Saturday, October 15. To sponsor Mark visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/mark-orme3.
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