Crystal Newton was still a teenager when she was diagnosed with advanced-stage melanoma.
Key points:
- Crystal Newton was diagnosed with melanoma when she was 19
- She's now advocating for more young people to check their skin
- Australia has the highest rate of melanoma in the world
While other young people her age were planning for their futures, Crystal did not know if she would make it to her twenties.
"It was just after my 19th birthday … I had a mole on my upper right arm that was annoying me, and I kept scratching it, so I went and got it checked," she said.
"Two days before Christmas, it came back as melanoma … It was pretty shocking news and not a great Christmas present."
Despite being diagnosed with the most dangerous form of skin cancer, the central Queensland woman, who lives in Cawarral, between Rockhampton and the Capricorn Coast, found it was a turning point.
Following the removal of her melanoma, Ms Newton also had two sentinel lymph nodes removed from under her arm.
"They were absolutely covered in cancer cells, which wasn't great," she said.
After a PET scan (using positron emission tomography imaging to detect cancer), she began Nivolumab immunotherapy, a treatment used to target melanoma and other types of cancer that have spread in the body.
The gruelling treatments went on for more than a year.
"It was so exciting and the best feeling ringing the bell after my last treatment," Ms Newton said.
"For the last two or three treatments I had been looking at the bell every time and I was like, 'I'm going to ring that bell on the way out, I'm going to get there'."
Now just shy of her 21st birthday, Ms Newton had a six-month check-up last week, where she got the all-clear.
She said the life-changing experience had given her a new perspective on life.
"I definitely don't take each day for granted anymore," she said.
"Getting to each milestone was probably the biggest thing and also meeting people in the community that have had melanoma helped me a lot to understand it better."
Common cancer for young Australians
Melanoma is the most common cancer for Australians aged 15 to 39, but if caught early, 90 per cent of melanomas can be cured by surgery.
Ms Newton said she was now a strong advocate for skin cancer awareness and prevention.
"It's not just something that old people get, anyone can get it, and we all need to be vigilant about melanoma," she said.
"Checking yourself all the time is the biggest thing – no-one tells you when you're a kid that you should keep an eye on your skin."
Australian Skin Cancer Foundation chief executive and founder Jay Allen said the organisation was working to fund research and educate more people on the dangers of skin cancer.
In 2008, at the age of 32, Mr Allen was diagnosed with stage-three melanoma, and given a 50 per cent chance of survival.
"What I noticed was there wasn't much support out there and I didn't know anyone else that had survived melanoma – I was a very scared young man," he said.
"We want to make sure people can access skin clinics, especially in rural locations around Australia where access is almost non-existent.
"We'll continue doing that and ensuring that no-one goes through melanoma alone."