Katie Cooper was just 25 when she noticed a small freckle behind her ear, which was removed as a precaution
Four years later, she developed melanoma in the same spot, but was told it was successfully removed — until she began experiencing debilitating pains that left her bedridden
The mom learned her melanoma had returned, spreading to her spine and bones, leading to a bleak terminal diagnosis
A mom was given a devastating terminal cancer diagnosis after a small freckle behind her ear developed into terminal melanoma seven years after it was removed.
Katie Cooper, 32, first had what she described as a small freckle behind her ear removed as a precaution, but four years later, noticed a small lump in the same spot. The lump was melanoma, but as the civil servant, who hails from the UK’s Greater Manchester area, said, she was told she was cancer-free once it was removed, according to The Daily Mail.
But then, in March 2024, symptoms started; Cooper began experiencing aches and pains following a trip to Disneyland Paris, but doctors dismissed them as “just a virus” she’d picked up on her trip. Five weeks later, she was bedridden “in agony” — and a return visit to the doctor delivered “terrifying” news: her melanoma had returned, and metastasized.
As a GoFundMe established to help Cooper pay for medical expenses explains, Cooper’s “back was broken,” as the cancer was in her spine and bones — as well as in her liver, abdominal wall, lungs, and ovaries.
“We had no idea and we just thought I was unwell. It blindsided us,” she said, according to the outlet. “Finding out subsequently that it was in my other organs as well, I knew it would be quite difficult from here on out.”
Cooper is undergoing radiation and immunotherapy treatment, in an effort to extend her life, but as her friend, Abi Smith, said, her best prognosis of living for the next ten years is 60% — if the treatment works.
Now, Cooper’s primary concern is her toddler, Aurora; As Smith said, “’She’s accepted the cancer, but when she thinks about her three-year-old daughter, Aurora, she gets really upset.”
“She’s hoping she’ll be there for all her milestones,” Smith said.
The American Cancer Society has estimated that approximately 105,000 new melanomas will be diagnosed in 2025 and about 8,400 are “expected to die of melanoma.” The organization noted that while it is more common for older adults to be diagnosed with melanoma, “it’s one of the most common cancers in young adults.”
While melanoma “accounts for only about 1% of skin cancers,” it “causes a large majority of skin cancer deaths.”
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