A mum has shared how she’s hoping to make Christmas “extra special” this year for her kids after a small mole turned out to be cancer.
The skin growth, which was the size of a 10p coin, on Sarah Carr’s back was initially removed.
Sadly, the cancer remained and has since spread throughout the police officer’s body.
READ MORE: ‘I was misdiagnosed with cancer after doctors found my leg riddled with tumours’
And now, without treatment trials, costing an eye-watering £40,000, her prognosis is unclear.
“For a long time, I have wanted to create memories in case they are my last,” Sarah, from Hull, told Need To Know.
“I’m going to make this Christmas a very special occasion – but how do you make it special not knowing what could happen?”
The 49-year-old first noticed something wasn’t quite right while pregnant with her second child, [not named for privacy reasons], now aged nine.
Her mum, Patricia, 75, was stroking her back when she felt a lump on a mole she had had for years.
Within two weeks, it was removed, but she had a gut feeling it was going to be bad news.
She said, “The wait for results was the worst.
“I was really anxious and down.
“I just cried when they told me it was melanoma.
“I had to have a bigger area around the original mole removed to ensure all traces of cancer were gone.
“But it had already spread.”
Sarah was initially diagnosed with superficial spreading malignant melanoma.
As she was pregnant, it was a race against the clock, though after countless surgeries and rounds of immunotherapy, she was in the all-clear.
Until 2018, when another lump was found in her groin.
This was removed, along with 20 lymph nodes, but that was just the beginning of a never-ending nightmare.
She said: “With melanoma, you don’t get any symptoms – no pain or anything.
“You just find a lump during a check-up, and suddenly everything changes.
“I’ve had three more lumps removed, along with 14 immunotherapy infusions, but it still spread to my pancreas.
“Now, I’m at stage four, with one last line of treatment – which doesn’t have a high success rate.”
Sarah was scheduled for surgery to remove the cancer from her pancreas in November 2025, though this wasn’t able to go ahead due to another lump on her hip.
She’s since been told the cancer has now reached her blood supply.
She said, “I’ve been absolutely heartbroken.
“Completely lost for words or any feeling.
“I’ve tried to keep my battle away from my kids for as long as possible because they are so young.
“I had to tell my girls, in an age-appropriate way, with lots of explanations, reassurance and cuddles.
“I promised I would keep them fully updated as time goes on.
“But it’s hard to mask how frightened I am.”
Her last hope at treatment, without extra cost, is immunotherapy, which has left the mum severely ill in the past.
In a bid to have a chance at life, and for another option, she’s now raising funds to partake in treatment trials abroad, with £18,391 raised out of £20,000 so far.
Sarah, who is also mum to her 14-year-old daughter, added: “Right now, I’m hoping to find treatment that my body will positively respond to.
“If immunotherapy doesn’t work within the next three months, then my condition will become palliative.
“My dream is to live a long life and watch my girls grow up.
“I need to remain positive for them and myself.
“I’m looking after my immune system, removing stress and eating a good diet, but there’s nothing else I can do.
“Wear high-factor sun cream and stay out of the sun at peak times, even in the winter.
“Always check your skin for any unusual marks, particularly any moles that appear different.
“This Christmas, I hope to spend lots of time with my family at home, getting cosy.
“On Christmas Eve, we’re going to watch Oliver Twist [as well as some other plans], and on the big day, I’ll be at home with my mum and girls.
“To find a treatment that would put me in remission would be absolutely incredible.”
