In 2010, Amanda Eilian, then 33, was heading out with her two daughters when her older daughter made a comment about a mole that felt surprising. “My 2-year-old pointed to the spot on my wrist, which she had never mentioned before, and said, ‘Chocolate, you have chocolate, Mommy,’” Eilian, partner and co-founder of Able Partners, who lives in New York City, tells TODAY.com.
“It was such an unusual thing for her to say and notice.” When she visited her dermatologist next, Eilian asked for it to be removed. At first, he dismissed her, but he then reluctantly removed it, all the while insisting it wasn't malignant.
Eilian later learned the mole was stage 2 melanoma. “It was a great lesson — not the way you want to learn the lesson — of learning the importance of self-advocacy and taking a proactive role in your own health,” she says. “It takes a certain amount of self confidence to continue to push back, and frankly, I lacked it at the time, and still have to intentionally cultivate that knowledge that I know my body better than anyone else.
” As someone with fair hair and skin, Eilian has always been aware of the need to do regular skin checks. Her grandmother and aunt had melanoma, and several people in her family have been diagnosed with less aggressive forms of skin cancer. While she performed self-exams, she also visited a dermatologist annually.
For two years, the mole on her arm worried her. “I had noticed ..
. a spot on my right wrist, an unusual .
