Stephen's Skin Cancer Story
“Get anything that’s concerning you checked out as soon as possible. I wouldn’t have been the type to go to the doctor, I only went because the mole started seeping and bleeding.”
Stephen Gray, 48, was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2023. It was discovered after tests were carried out on a mole that was growing out of his back, near where a horsefly had previously bitten him.
“It started in September 2022,” says Stephen. “I got a bite on my back from a horsefly and didn’t pay much attention to it, then it came up as a lumpy mole, and started seeping and bleeding in March 2023.
“I went to see my GP about the lump. I told him about the horsefly bite, so he gave me antibiotics and a hospital referral. In September that year, I was working outside and my brother-in-law commented on the lump on my back.
“His partner worked in the hospital in Drogheda, and got me an appointment for that October, because I still hadn’t received an appointment from my doctor’s referral.”
When Stephen went to the hospital, it was decided that the best course of action was to remove the mole and send it for testing, which revealed that the mole was cancerous.
“They found that it was a malignant melanoma. I was shocked to be told that, I wasn’t really expecting anything to come from the lump – when you get something removed, you think that’s it, once it’s gone.
“When I got the news, I was on my own,” says Stephen, who is a father of six. “So, I went home and told my wife and kids.
"It didn’t sink in for me, at the beginning. It felt surreal. But when it hit me, I had so many thoughts running through my head like, what will happen? How far has the cancer gone?"
“I had to go back to hospital in January 2024, for a deeper and wider incision on my back. They also took lymph nodes from under my arm, and the results showed that the cancer had spread slightly into my lymph nodes.”
The following month, Stephen began immunotherapy and participated in a blind clinical trial in Beaumont Hospital, after his oncologist advised him that he would be an ideal candidate for it.
“I decided to go with the trial, because you get more focused care, like scans and tests with more regularity than I would’ve had if I was only doing immunotherapy,” says Stephen. “The immunotherapy and the clinical trial drug were put in in the same infusion. I don’t know what the trial drug was because it was a blind trial.
“I would advise anyone to go for a clinical trial, if it agreed with them and they didn’t get any side effects. It’s like my doctor said to me, I might as well get a little extra with my immunotherapy and see what’s in it.”
Stephen finished his immunotherapy and clinical trial at the end of February is doing well.
Reflecting on his cancer journey, Stephen says: "It all started with the horsefly bite, but I don't know if that was even anything to do with the growth of the mole. The mole came out of my back, it was almost in the shape of a nipple.
“But I’m good now. I still go for scans and blood tests. All of my scans have come back clear lately, nothing is showing up, thankfully.
“I always wear plenty of sunscreen now, definitely a lot more now compared to before I was diagnosed. I also wear hats and seek shade when it’s sunny, because I know how important it is to protect your skin.”
