A Diagnosis She Never Expected: Leanne's Story

For much of her life, Leanne W., felt com­plete­ly at home in the sun. As a for­mer life­guard, her days were often spent out­doors, soak­ing up the rays.

“I loved being tan,” she said. ​“I used tan­ning beds in high school and col­lege and laid out in the sun — back then, we just didn’t think about the long-term effects.”

In 2007, Leanne had a spot removed from the back of her leg that raised some con­cern. Her provider took the right steps and advised her to keep a close eye on the area going forward.

“Well, it start­ed com­ing back, and I didn’t do any­thing about it,” she shared. ​“Some girl­friends of mine who were nurs­es looked at it and said, ​‘You need to get this checked out.’ But I kept putting it off.”

Then, in Decem­ber 2018, dur­ing a mas­sage appoint­ment, she real­ized it was time to take action.

“My mas­sage ther­a­pist looked at the mole and said, ​‘I’m not play­ing with you any­more,’” Leanne recalled. ​“She noticed it had got­ten big­ger and was raised more.”

That push was exact­ly what Leanne needed.

“I lis­tened. I got in my car, called, and sched­uled an appoint­ment,” she said.

Leanne turned to Quin­cy Med­ical Group’s (QMG) Der­ma­tol­ogy team, where expert care and thor­ough eval­u­a­tion led to a biop­sy — and news she nev­er expected.

“It was melanoma,” she said. ​“It’s one of those things you nev­er think will hap­pen to you, espe­cial­ly when you feel healthy and active.”

Thanks to the quick action and care from the der­ma­tol­ogy team, Leanne under­went a pro­ce­dure to remove the melanoma before it could spread.

Since her diag­no­sis, Leanne’s rela­tion­ship with the sun has changed.

“I still love the sun. I always will,” she said. ​“But now I enjoy it safe­ly. I wear sun­screen, stay in the shade when I can, and don’t use tan­ning beds anymore.”

As a hair­styl­ist, Leanne often shares her sto­ry, know­ing how impor­tant ear­ly detec­tion can be.

She hopes her expe­ri­ence encour­ages oth­ers to stay vig­i­lant about their skin health.

“If some­thing looks dif­fer­ent or feels off, don’t wait,” Leanne said. ​“Even if it’s some­thing you’ve had looked at before — just go. It could save your life.”

Don’t wait to get your skin checked. Sched­ule an appoint­ment with Quin­cy Med­ical Group’s Der­ma­tol­ogy team. Call (217) 222‑6550, ext. 3435, or vis­it quin​cymed​group​.com/derm.