A woman has shared how she found a worryingly small early symptom of skin cancer on her husband’s toe – initially missed by doctors.
David Edges wasn’t concerned when a faint line appeared on one of his toenails, but it rang alarm bells for his wife Kelly.
The 47-year-old skin specialist had taken a course about nail conditions during her training back in the late 1990s and remembered that changes like the line could hint at something more sinister at play.
She insisted David, 52, get checked by a doctor, who said to keep an eye on the nail.
A second opinion from another GP, prompted by Kelly, was equally unsuccessful, with them allegedly believing it to be a fungal issue.
But after Kelly monitored the change in the nail – with the line thickening over time – the couple insisted on getting a biopsy taken, which found he had melanoma (skin cancer) in situ, confined just to that area of the skin.
“It’s awful to hear the words melanoma,” Kelly, from Solihull, told Need To Know.
“I first noticed the line in May 2022 and it rang alarm bells because I remember learning about nail conditions & changes during my training back in the late 90s.
“I also understood that you cannot tell the difference between a malignant subungual melanoma and a benign one.
“Doctors are great at quick referrals for changes in moles on the body but because subungual melanomas are so rare, there didn’t seem to be a lot of concern for his toe.
“David visited the GP that same month and was told to keep an eye on it.
“He was happy to go with the professional’s advice, but I wasn’t happy.
“I kept an eye on it and the following October I noticed the line was wider and had darkened in colour.”
This time, a second GP said it was “likely to be fungal”.
Kelly said: “I felt very frustrated at this point so we booked a private appointment.
“The doctor thoroughly checked David’s toe nails and she asked for comparison photos of the toe.
“I’d taken two spaced 17 months apart, and she acknowledged that there was in fact a change.
“The line was over 3 mm in width.”
Following a biopsy, he was finally given the diagnosis.
Kelly said: “I was so happy to hear the word ‘in situ’ as this means it’s confined to the epidermis and hasn’t spread.”
David underwent a procedure to remove all the cancerous cells, with a skin graft taken from his thigh added to the area to give a healthy margin of skin.
Luckily, there was no residual cancer left following the treatment.
Kelly added: “We didn’t tell our children until David got the all-clear as he didn’t want to worry them.
“Our son was doing his GCSE so it wasn’t right to worry about him.
“He’s been very private during appointments and biopsies, but now he has the all-clear he feels it’s important to let people know the warning signs.
“We don’t want to scare people with this but just want to emphasise the importance of finding cancer early.
“Now, his toe is healing nicely and we’re going on a family ski holiday in April.”
Kelly has gone on to train with Skcin, a UK-based charity dedicated to the prevention and early detection of skin cancer.
