Anna Marie Farro

I was first diagnosed in August 2006 at the age of 39 with melanoma, as well as basal cell carcinoma.  It was located less than a half inch from the melanoma site.  As I’m sure most young people believe, I thought I was too young to ever get melanoma.

It all began in May 2006, when I first noticed a skin change on my upper left arm, near the outside of my shoulder.  I thought it was nothing and it wasn’t until August that I brought it to the attention of my dermatologist.  The area was pink in color, round and looked like a pimple with a head; not the typical look of melanoma – black, brown, irregular borders and larger than an eraser top.

I came home after my appointment to a houseful of company and didn’t get to my messages until I was ready for bed.  My doctor had called me several times and said that he needed to speak to me as soon as possible.  I knew this wasn’t a good sign and the next day he told me over the phone that I had cancer…. cancer, I couldn’t believe it!   

The melanoma was located on my upper left arm near my shoulder.  I had a null node biopsy which determined that it had spread to three of my sentinel nodes.  After the initial diagnosis, I had two major surgeries – first a wide resection was done to remove all of the melanoma and the affected area and the second to remove all my lymph nodes.

After my surgeries to remove both the melanoma and the basal cell carcinoma on my left arm, I was again diagnosed with skin cancer on my right shoulder and had another basal cell removed from my forehead.  I am happy to say that since my surgeries, I have been cancer free and November 28, 2009 will be the second anniversary of my initial diagnosis.

People always ask if I fit the “criteria” for melanoma and I explain that my father had a basal cell carcinoma on his nose and some distant relatives had skin cancer, but nothing of a strong genetic connection.  I was out in the sun quite a bit as a child (with limited sunscreen) and visited a tanning bed a few times right before I got married.  Then they ask what I do to protect myself now.  I am always wearing sunscreen or protective moisturizer and request my family do the same.  But I believe my strongest protection is being the co-founder of an organization, Miles for Melanoma of Delaware.

I started this with a young dear friend who unfortunately lost her battle to this disease.  With the help and support of my committee, we have been able to raise over $100,000 in the past two years and I was nominated by Christiana Care for the “Community Hero Award” from the Spirit of Woman in March of 2009.  I continue to work on our mission of educating the community about protecting your skin and preventing skin cancer.  Remember:  A little mole can kill you!