Market Deeping mum urges others to get checked after hairdresser spotted cancerous mole

A mum of two has thanked her hairdresser for saving her life - after she noticed a cancerous mole growing on her scalp.

Nurse Michaela Peacock, who believes her lump developed due to years of not using sun cream as a teenager, is now urging members of the public to check for vital signs to ensure they are safe from the illness.

Thirty-six-year-old Michaela, from Market Deeping, was at home with husband Oliver when she first noticed something unusual.

“I just rubbed my head. It wasn’t itchy, but I just happened to rub the side of my head and I found the tiniest little lump,” she explained.

“I thought it was just a spot on my scalp. I moved my hair and my husband said ‘you’ve got a mole on your head’.”

Michaela’s mum confirmed she didn’t have such a mole on her head as a child, so to get to the bottom of the situation she contacted her hairdresser, a family member who lives in Bradford.

“I asked if she remembered me having the mole and she said ‘when I last did your hair I remember seeing that, and I’d not seen that before’.

“That’s what made me get it checked as I figured it must be a new mole.”

The hairdresser also confirmed the mole had got ‘bigger and darker’ since she last spotted it.

Michaela - who runs her own clinic Beautiful Aesthetics, as well as picking up bank shifts as a nurse - admitted she was ‘shocked’ to learn the seriousness of her situation.

“I‘m a nurse and my background is oncology, so I worked in cancer for over 12 years,” she said.

“You tell yourself you’ll be fine but in the back of my head I wasn’t so sure.

“I spoke to a couple of doctors at work and they didn’t give me huge reassurance that it would be fine. so I felt I kind of knew. But it was still a shock when I was told it came back as melanoma.

“The second you’re told cancer of any form you jump to the worst-case scenario.”

Michaela - mum to young Archie and Rosie - underwent an operation to have the mole removed.

After undergoing a full body check a further two moles were removed, one of which was harmless and a third which was found to be ‘mildly displastic’, which means it could have developed into cancer.

“I think I’ve used a sunbed maybe twice in my life. But as a teenager and young adult I didn’t wear sun cream, I hated the feel of it on my skin,” added Michaela, who is now waiting for the results of a fourth removed mole.

“Because I am so pale I would never tan. I’d have to burn to get the slightest bit of tan, and I suppose it probably is a result of not treating my skin well when I was younger.

“At that age you just don’t think ‘when I’m older this might come back to bite me on the bum’.”

After her ordeal, Michaela has a warning for anyone who thinks they may be in a similar situation.

“If in doubt, get it checked,” she said.

“If you’re ever unsure, get it checked. It’s your body at the end of the day, and nobody will stand up for you as much as you can.”