Early Detection Saved My Life: Skin Cancer Survivor's Warning Signs

Liz Farrell was forty-six when she noticed small red bumps forming on her forehead in May 2021. She didn't ignore them. She photographed them, watched them change, and brought them to her GP, who referred her to a dermatologist. The bumps turned out to be basal cell and squamous cell cancer—two separate malignancies removed from either side of her forehead. It was a shock, but it could have been worse. Much worse.

In Ireland, skin cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed each year, with over eleven thousand new cases reported annually. The National Cancer Registry projects that number will double by 2040. What makes Farrell's story significant is not that she got sick, but that she caught it early enough for it to matter. Her vigilance came from watching someone she loved die from the same disease.

Farrell's father worked outdoors as a builder and ran regularly. He developed skin cancer that advanced to a severity she describes as an eye-opener—severe enough that it killed him. Seeing what he endured transformed how she approached her own health. When those red bumps appeared on her forehead, she didn't wait. She didn't assume they were harmless. She documented them, tracked their progression, and acted. "Only for my dad, I wouldn't have been so vigilant about my skin, and it could've been a worst-case scenario for me," she said.

But one diagnosis wasn't the end of her story. In 2023, red spots reappeared on her forehead in the same location where the original cancers had been removed. These were small, rough-textured, and visibly changing. Again, she had them checked. Again, they were pre-cancerous. She was treated with a chemotherapy cream as a precaution. Around the same time, she noticed a mole on her shoulder—one she'd had her entire life—beginning to change shape and become bumpier. That was removed in February and was also pre-cancerous.

Farrell works as an early years educator. She's pale-skinned and spent her childhood outdoors without the rigorous sunscreen protection that's standard now. She suspects her childhood sunburns planted the seeds for what came later. She's now meticulous about sun protection year-round, and she's equally meticulous about teaching her twenty-year-old son the same habits. But the real lesson she's learned is about attention itself.

The difference between her outcome and her father's wasn't luck—it was documentation. Farrell photographed every change she noticed. She could show her GP exactly how rapidly the spots were evolving. She could point to specific alterations in shape, texture, and color. Early detection matters because it expands options. When skin cancer is caught early, up to ninety percent of cases are curable. For melanoma specifically, early detection can be the difference between life and death.

Kevin O'Hagan, Cancer Prevention Manager at the Irish Cancer Society, reinforces what Farrell's experience demonstrates: regular skin checks matter, and any change—even painless ones—warrants a GP visit. A new or changing mole, a flat red spot, a firm red lump, an ulcer that won't heal, rough and scaly patches—these are the things to watch for. The sooner skin cancer is diagnosed, the more treatment options exist and the better the chance of survival.

Farrell is now urging the public to do what she did: pay attention, document changes, and act. She believes her vigilance saved her from the trajectory her father followed. As skin cancer cases continue to climb in Ireland, her story carries weight not as inspiration but as instruction—a clear-eyed account of what happens when someone decides that small changes matter enough to investigate.