'I had thought I had a spot on my nose before gut punch diagnosis'

A mum who dismissed a spot on her nose as a minor skin issue was diagnosed with skin cancer, despite being "obsessed" with wearing sunscreen. Amanda Anderson, 43, spotted a small blemish on her nose in January 2025, but initially brushed it off as dry skin, common during the winter months.

The mother-of-four decided to visit her GP just to be safe and was prescribed a cream for dryness. However, when the spot returned, began to bleed and scab over, she grew concerned.

Despite her doctor's reassurances that it was nothing serious, Amanda trusted her instincts and sought a second opinion, leading to a biopsy. In June 2025, the results revealed basal cell carcinoma - a form of skin cancer. Amanda was scheduled for Mohs surgery, a specialised procedure to remove skin cancer.

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Surgeons cut a hole in her nose to extract all the cancer cells, using skin from above and below her nose to cover the wound. Now in recovery, Amanda is keen to raise awareness about the importance of sunscreen use.

Amanda, who works for a suicide prevention nonprofit in Layton, Utah, US, said: "It was just a little dry spot on the side of my nose. With it being the winter it's common to have dry patches. I wasn't super concerned at the beginning."

Amanda has been mindful about shielding her skin during her adult years as her father, Kirk Romney, 66, has battled skin cancer and undergone more than 17 Mohs procedures to eliminate cancerous cells from his face, neck and shoulders. However, growing up in the 80s, Amanda didn't have access to sunscreen during her childhood.

She explained: "I'm very fair - I freckle, I don't tan easily. There was a tanning salon across the street from school that wasn't regulated. I lived in Arizona where it was year-round sun."

When she spotted the mark in January she wasn't initially alarmed.

Amanda explained: "When I noticed the spot at first I wasn't too concerned. It's typical to get dry patches because of the weather here in Utah."

She was prescribed a cream after visiting her GP, but when the blemish returned, Amanda grew concerned.

She said: "It came back and started to bleed and scab. The doctor didn't think it was anything to be worried about. I had a gut feeling that it was going to need to be removed."

Amanda underwent a biopsy in June and received her results a week later on June 23, 2025.

She said: "It's hard to hear. It's on my face and as a woman we do everything we can to make sure our faces look as good as possible.

"I'm obsessed about sun cream and shade - I have been my whole life. So it was a bit of a gut punch."

She was booked for surgery to excise the lesion on June 26, 2025. The procedure involved removing a small portion of the affected tissue, which is then sent to the laboratory for analysis.

If there are still signs of cancer, doctors continue to remove more of the infected area until no traces of the disease remain. Amanda underwent three rounds before they confirmed that all the cancer had been removed.

She revealed: "It was about the size of a quarter. They cut above and below the hole and fold the skin over."

Amanda said the swelling was now subsiding and she wouldn't require any further treatment. She will undergo check-ups every six months to monitor her skin.

She is now fervently advocating for people to take care of their skin - especially from a young age.

Amanda advised: "The damage is done when you're young. I encourage my daughters to put sun cream on underneath their make-up.

"I'm trying to build healthy habits in my kids. People don't realise you can get sunburnt through the window of a car.

"We have to take care of our skin like you would your teeth. Skin cancer is so preventable."