A woman has issued a stark warning about a common hobby as she believes it led to her skin cancer diagnosis.
April Catudal, 37, from Atlanta, Georgia, said she led a relatively ‘healthy’ lifestyle before she was diagnosed with Stage IA melanoma in June.
‘I walked for at least an hour outside every day, gardened, worked out every day,’ she explained exclusively to the Daily Mail. ‘I definitely would consider myself active.’
She booked an annual skin exam in June and expected a clean bill of health since she had no symptoms whatsoever.
‘I assumed it was going to be fine as per usual. I have a lot of moles and freckles but had never had even so much as a biopsy in the 10 years I had been getting regular skin exams,’ she explained.
But her dermatologist noticed a mole on her neck and decided to biopsy it, and she was stunned to learn it was Stage 1A melanoma.
Looking back, she now believes a new hobby might have led to her getting cancer: gardening.
She explained that she spent quite a bit of time outside tending to her garden, without protecting herself from the sun properly.
April Catudal, 37, from Atlanta, Georgia, has issued a stark warning about a common hobby, as she believes it led to her cancer diagnosis
She was diagnosed with Stage IA melanoma in June. Looking back, she now believes a new hobby might have led to her getting cancer: gardening
‘I had been outside gardening quite a bit between March and June, spending hours per day sometimes putting mulch down and planting,’ she said.
‘I stupidly didn’t think it was that important to wear a hat, even though my neck was exposed to the sun from squatting constantly.
‘I wore sunscreen intermittently but thought it was mostly fine as long as it wasn’t peak sun or I wasn’t burning.’
April said she was ‘pretty shocked’ when she received the news, especially because she hadn’t had any symptoms.
But she was also extremely angry with herself for ‘putting herself in danger’ and assuming as a healthy young woman that she wasn’t at risk.
‘At the end of the day I wasn’t diligent with sunscreen. I just didn’t think it was ever going to happen,’ she admitted.
April ultimately went under the knife and had the mole removed and was declared cancer free.
But she recently had to get two more biopsies on other moles and is still waiting for the results on those.
April, seen with her partner, told the Daily Mail, ‘I stupidly didn’t think it was that important to wear a hat, even though my neck was exposed to the sun from squatting constantly’
‘I did ask the surgeon who performed the removal what she thought caused it, and she said it’s impossible to know,’ she shared.
‘Could’ve been sun damage from years ago compounded with being in the sun for hours per day in a T-shirt without a hat or sunscreen gardening.
‘It seems likely to me that the gardening caused it, but it’s truly not something we’ll ever know for sure… but regardless, I would never, ever go back to gardening without a wide-brim hat, UPF clothing and SPF50 sunscreen.
‘And frankly, I’ve mostly been avoiding going out during the peak UV hours for more than a couple minutes here and there.’
She hopes that speaking out about her story will help warn others about the dangers of sun exposure.
‘It sucks, but it’s so, so preventable. I didn’t realize that one in five Americans were expected to be diagnosed in their lifetimes,’ she shared.
‘So few people seem to take sun safety seriously, and I wish my story could get them to understand how preventable it is – and the flip side, how crappy skin cancer and melanoma are to live with.
‘The surgery was not fun, and the recovery was really uncomfortable and limiting. And now I’m 10 percent more likely to have other melanomas pop up, especially over the next two years.
‘It was [also] $1,000 out of pocket [for the surgery], after $300 out of pocket for the biopsy.
‘I’m so, so lucky that I’m able to afford this financial stuff, but I really wouldn’t wish the constant appointments, surgeries and just general fear and uncertainty on anyone.’
In the end, she stressed the importance of using sunscreen as well as getting regular skin check.
‘Once it hits your blood stream it’s significantly more deadly and generally dangerous, which is another thing people don’t know,’ she dished.
‘Early detection is everything with skin cancer. And could mean the difference between life and death.’
