Miles Spence has twice been diagnosed with melanoma in his head. Photo / Mead Norton
Tauranga man Miles Spence has twice been diagnosed with melanoma in the past four years.
The 72-year-old retiree had been “farming all my life”.
“And if we weren’t working [...] we’d be at the Mount burning ourselves and lying out there.”
Spence is sharing his story as data shows there have been nearly 2000 melanoma, BCC (basal cell carcinoma) and SCC (squamous cell carcinoma) skin cancer diagnoses in the Bay of Plenty in four years.
Growing up on a farm, Spence said he always wore a hat when working outside.
“You think if you’re going to get cancer, you’re going to see it on your arms or your legs or your back. But I got two on my head.”
Spence was first diagnosed with melanoma when he was 68 - the cancer was removed, as were 40 lymph nodes from his neck.
About six weeks ago, Spence was diagnosed with melanoma again, which was also removed. This involved a graft being taken from his thigh and put on his head.
Spence said he gets regular skin check-ups, and encourages others to do the same.
“If I wasn’t having checks [...] I probably wouldn’t be here today.”
He was now “a lot more careful”, donning “big-brimmed hats”, wearing sunscreen even when he was out just mowing the lawn, and using moisturiser with sunscreen in it.
Information received under the Official Information Act from Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand in November showed there were 122 patients waiting for their initial consultation appointment for suspected or confirmed BCC, SCC and melanoma in the Bay of Plenty.
Six patients were waiting for a surgical appointment for melanoma excision, 32 patients for BCC excision and 14 patients for SCC excision. Patients with a dual diagnosis were included for each diagnosis.
From 2018 to 2021, there were 1869 melanoma, BCC and SCC skin cancer diagnoses in the Bay of Plenty. These numbers excluded private activity and only included Bay of Plenty public-funded patients who had treatment by trained primary care providers for SCC, BCC and melanoma.
The information also showed it had two funding agreements in place with the Eastern Bay Primary Health Alliance and the Western Bay of Plenty Primary Health Organisation for minor skin surgery.
Skinspots founder and MoleMap chief medical officer New Zealand, Dr Franz Strydom, said there was a two-year backlog of people who did not get checked for skin cancer during Covid.
“We’ve had, unfortunately, people who have died because they got melanoma and didn’t get the care.
“There’s still a lot of people who are not checking themselves, and probably still sitting on cancers that they should really be having cut off and treated.”
Those who should be getting checked included those with fair skin, people who live in areas where skin cancer is prevalent, and people who had “more than a normal amount” of freckles and moles on their arms and faces.
He encouraged people to get checked and to cover up this summer by wearing a hat and sunscreen.
“Most of the sunburn we get will be on our faces and forearms, so wearing a hat will save you thousands of dollars - not needing future surgery on [your] face.”
Information provided by the Cancer Society said UV radiation was at its highest between 10am and 4pm from September to April.
Protection is required during these times and any time the UV index is three or above, even on a cloudy day.
The Cancer Society said to “slip” on clothing that covered as much skin as possible, such as collared shirts with long sleeves.
“Slip into the shade of a leafy tree, building or shade sail. Slipping into shade costs nothing and effectively blocks UV radiation.
“Slop on some sunscreen - seven teaspoons is required to cover an adult, and you need to apply it 20 minutes before going out in the sun and reapply every two hours, or more often if swimming or sweating.
“Slap on a wide-brimmed hat, wrap on some close-fitting sunglasses that are wraparound style and meet the New Zealand standard.”
For more information on being sun-smart, visit the SunSmart website.
The couple spend five months a year in America running their business.