Personal stories

What price would you pay for a tan – your life?

'I assumed solariums were safe': Kate McCammond

26 year old Kate McCammond says she is '100% confident‘ that her melanoma was caused by using solariums. Why is she so sure? Because she developed a melanoma on her bottom, and has never sunbaked naked or even in a g-string.

Kate first used a solarium when she was 17, and a few years later her sessions increased significantly when she started working in a solarium. Because it was free, she had eight minute sessions around three times a week for five years.

'I never burned so I assumed solariums were safe. After a year I got a pink spot on my right buttock, but I didn't think much of it.'

In 2007, while she was watching the news one evening, Kate saw a story about another solarium user who had developed a melanoma. The story had a picture of the girl's melanoma. Kate was shocked to see it looked just like the spot on her bottom.

Kate saw a dermatologist, who diagnosed the spot as a melanoma. It was 2.5 cm deep and a stage 4. 'My dermatologist said if I'd left it any longer it could have spread... It took two rounds of surgery to remove it all, and I had about 30 stitches on my bottom,' Kate says.

The scar isn't the only legacy of her solarium sessions – Kate has to have check ups every three months for the next two years, and then every six months for three years after that. Then after five years, she'll only need to get checked every year.

Kate says she would never use a solarium again and warns all her friends not to. 'If my story stops one person from using a solarium then my job's done.'

'My life is more important than a tan': Saffron Styles

Saffron Styles never expected that using a solarium might give her a melanoma as well as a tan. The 31-year-old Melbourne woman describes herself as a ‘consistent but irregular' solarium user for over 10 years. ‘I've used solariums on and off since I was 18. Sometimes I'd go for a while without using one at all, then I might have two sessions a week for a few months,' she says.

But in July 2006, when she was getting out of the shower Saffron noticed an unusual spot behind her knee. ‘I was on holidays and saw what looked like a blood blister on the back of my knee in the full length mirrors of the hotel where I was staying.'

However, it took almost six months before Saffron acted. The persistence of her boyfriend and mother finally convinced her to have the spot checked by her doctor. The doctor monitored the spot over several months to observe changes and Saffron finally elected to have the spot removed as a precaution in March 2007.

It came as a shock when several days later Saffron's doctor called to say a biopsy had indicated the spot might be a melanoma, and further surgery was necessary to remove more flesh around the site of the spot. Saffron also had the lymph nodes in her groin removed to check if they were clear of cancer. Fortunately, results came back negative.

However, Saffron developed a post operative infection a week or so after surgery. She spent a further eight days in hospital to bring the infection under control, which almost saw her miss her brother's wedding in New Zealand.

Saffron's dermatologist Associate Professor John Kelly says Saffron's unusual spot showed many of the features of a melanoma and was treated as such. Regardless of the diagnosis, solariums are definitely a thing of the past as far as Saffron's concerned. Saffron says, now that she knows the risks, solariums are off limits.

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