Skin cancer: Dr Chris outlines the signs of a melanoma A beloved mum-of-two was hit with a devastating diagnosis after what she thought was just an infected toenail turned out to be a rare cancer. Donna Bointon, from Middlesbrough, had been going back and forth to her doctor’s surgery for five years but seeing no improvement despite treatment. Eventually she was referred to hospital where a procedure in February revealed she actually had acral melanoma.
This disease is an uncommon form of skin cancer that forms on the palms of hands, soles of feet and under nails. Speaking to Teesside Live , the NHS housekeeper recalled her diagnosis. Donna, 46, said: "I had a poorly toe for five years and was backwards and forwards to the GP.
READ MORE Suncream warning as cases of skin cancer at all-time high in UK Donna Bointon and her son Frankie in Whitby after the charity walk (Image: Family handout) “Finally they sent me to the hospital to get the side of it taken off and they discovered an acral melanoma, it grows underneath your nail beds. “I didn't expect it to be cancer at all, I'd had this infected toenail for a long time. “I was on antibiotics , using different creams and it wasn't clearing up.
Over the five years it had been growing so it was quite a deep melanoma." The truth of her condition was a “shock” to both her and her family. Don't miss.
.. Doctor cancer free after breakthrough with disease most die of in just 12 months [INSIGHT] Mum given devastating diagnosis.
