A mum was hit with a devastating diagnosis after what doctors believed was just a spider bite turned out to be something far more sinister. The woman was initially “complaining” of a small spot on her nose, however, it continued to grow.
Multiple doctors appointments followed until eventually she was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma – a type of skin cancer.
Her daughter, social media influencer Meghan Peterson took to TikTok to share the story with her more than 900,000 followers.
“My mum got bitten by a spider and had half of her nose taken off,” Meghan said.
The family’s ordeal started during the Covid lockdown of 2020. Meghan’s mum rang her complaining of a small spot she had on the end of her nose.
Meghan said: “She’d had it for around the week at that point and it was not shifting.
“When I met up with her to go for a walk outdoors I was shocked. We decided that she needed to go and see a doctor.”
Due to the lockdown restrictions she was only able to get a video call appointment with the doctor.
He prescribed some antibiotic cream for what he said was a spider bite.
But after two weeks they saw no improvement and Meghan asked an acquaintance, who was a dermatologist
“Worryingly, he told me that he didn’t think it was a spider bite at all. And in fact, he thought it was a type of skin cancer,” Meghan said.
“It had only been a matter of a week, two weeks max and the little spot had grown sizably.
“And at this point, my mum was still being told that it was a spider bite by the NHS.”
The family went private and Meghan’s mum was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma – the second most common type of skin cancer.
“Usually this type of skin cancer is really easy to treat,” Meghan said. “The problem is because my mum’s was growing so rapidly, what we could see on the outside could potentially be much worse on the inside, kind of like an iceberg effect.”
In the end, her mum and dad decided to remortgage their house and go completely private for the surgery.
Meghan recalled: “After that surgery my mum was essentially left with only half a nose. She quite literally had the smallest nose to begin with so there wasn’t much left.
“The amount of tissue that they had to take was so shocking.”
Luckily this surgery was a success and Meghan’s mum has since had her nose rebuilt using skin taken from her forehead.
This has also led Meghan herself to be extra cautious when it comes to her own skin, including getting her moles mapped at a clinic.
And recently she noticed a change in a freckle on her back, which she is now waiting to have removed.
She added: “I would just like this to serve as a reminder to you to be extra cautious this summer.
“If you’ve ever lived in a hot climate like me, I lived in Australia for a while, please go and get your moles checked by the NHS or private.”
One way to check for skin cancer involves the ABCDE method.
This means if a mole or mark fits any of the following criteria you should get it checked:
- Asymmetrical
- Border – has an irregular or jagged border
- Colour – an uneven colour and contain more than one shade
- Diameter – more than 6mm wide
- Evolving.
