THIS Morning star Lynsey Crombie has admitted ‘I’m finding it hard to love myself’ after receiving her shock cancer diagnosis.
The cleaning expert, 45, ‘fell to the floor’ when she was diagnosed with invasive melanoma last year.
According to the NHS, melanoma is a type of skin cancer that can spread to other areas of the body.
Back in 2023 Lynsey spotted a mole on her knee and went to the doctors to get it checked.
After her first doctors appointment, she was sent away thinking that it was nothing sinister, but then after asking for a second opinion at a private mole clinic, it was a different story.
Lynsey was given an “urgent referral” and went on to have two moles removed. Then two weeks later was told she had skin cancer.
Speaking about the moment with OK! magazine, Lynsey said: “I put the phone down on the doctor, I was in shock.
“When you hear the word cancer, I literally fell to the floor – I didn’t even give the doctor time to explain the type of cancer or how bad it was.”
The cleaning guru also opened up about how her diagnosis has effected her mentally.
She admitted that she’s not felt up to appearing on our TV screens and that she feels like she “hates herself”.
Lynsey said: “I look at myself now and you sort of don’t like yourself, you hate yourself – it’s a really weird feeling and I’m just not right.
“I’ve not done live TV for a few weeks because I feel like I just can’t do it.
“I’ve got a block in front of me and I’ve got to get back to it because I need to, but I feel like I’m not very good around people at the moment.”
Melanoma is the fifth most common cancer in the UK.
About 16,000 people are diagnosed with it each year.
Lynsey is still doing what she loves the most – and has been busy sharing cleaning hacks on her Instagram.
Skin cancer warning signs
The ABCDE rule can be followed to assess the health of a mole. If your mole falls into the following, it’s worth getting checked:
- Asymmetrical – melanomas usually have two very different halves and are an irregular shape
- Border – melanomas usually have a notched or ragged border
- Colours – melanomas will usually be a mix of two or more colours
- Diameter – most melanomas are usually larger than 6mm in diameter
- Enlargement or elevation – a mole that changes size over time is more likely to be a melanoma
Back in March she appeared on This Morning to chat with Josie Gibson and Craig Doyle about spring cleaning hacks.
Lynsey shot to fame on Channel 4’s Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners back in 2013.
The star is married to her husband Rob, 43.
She’s mum to twins Molly and Olivia, 19, and son Jake, 14.
What is melanoma, what are the symptoms and how can you prevent it?
Melanoma is the most serious type of skin cancer that has a tendency to spread around the body.
It is diagnosed 16,000 times per year, and tragically takes the lives of 2,340 people per year.
The number of people being diagnosed with melanoma is increasing, and it is the 5th most common cancer in the UK.
But it is also one of the most preventable cancers, with 86 per cent of cases in the UK avoidable.
The best way to protect yourself from melanoma is to be sun safe – wear SPF every day, wear a hat and sunglasses and keep out of the sun in the hottest hours. It is also advised to avoid sunbeds.
People who are fair-skinned, have blue or green eyes, blonde or red hair and a large number of freckles or moles are more likely to get skin cancer.
Surgery is the main treatment for melanoma, particularly if it is found early. This will involve removing the affected tissue in the skin.
Radiotherapy, medicines and chemotherapy are also sometimes used to try and stop the cancer from growing. Treatment depends on the severity of the disease.
What are the symptoms?
The key thing to look out for are changes to an existing mole, or a new mole on your skin.
Most experts recommend using the simple “ABCDE” rule to look for symptoms of melanoma skin cancer, which can appear anywhere on the body.
There are five letters/words to remember:
- Asymmetrical – melanomas usually have two very different halves and are an irregular shape
- Border – melanomas usually have a notched or ragged border
- Colours – melanomas will usually be a mix of two or more colours
- Diameter – most melanomas are usually larger than 6mm in diameter
- Enlargement or elevation – a mole that changes size over time is more likely to be a melanoma
A mole that changes size, shape or colour may be a melanoma.
But other signs to look out for include moles that are:
- Swollen and sore
- Bleeding
- Itchy
- Crusty
How deadly is it?
Melanoma is a deadly form of skin cancer.
The outlook of a person’s disease depends on the stage of the cancer when it was diagnosed.
Survival is better for women than it is for men.
“We don’t know exactly why this is. It may be because women are more likely to see a doctor about their melanoma at an earlier stage,” says Cancer Research UK.
The charity says that generally, statistics show that in England, more than 85 out of every 100 people (more than 85 per cent) will survive their melanoma for 10 years or more after they are diagnosed.
- Around 100 per cent in England diagnosed with melanoma at stage 1 – when the cancer cells are only in the top layer of skin – will survive for five years or more after diagnosis.This drops to 80 per cent for stage 2.
- Some 70 per cent live for a further five years when they are diagnosed in stage 3, which is when the cancer has started to spread to nearby lymph nodes.
- At stage 4, when the melanoma has spread elsewhere in the body, almost 30 per cent survive their cancer for 5 years or more.
Cancer Research says the stage 4 data does not account for age differences. Age can affect outlook and younger people have a better prognosis than older people.
Age can affect outlook and younger people have a better prognosis than older people.
What is melanoma?
Melanocytes are cells in the skin that give us the colour of our skin because they produce a pigment, known as melanin.
When you sit in the sun, melanocytes produce more pigment (a sun tan), which spreads to other skin cells to protect them from the sun’s rays.
But melanocytes are also where cancer starts.
Too much UV causes sunburn, and this is a sign of damage to the skin’s DNA.
The UV triggers changes in the melanocytes, which makes the genetic material become faulty and cause abnormal cell growth.
People who burn easily are more at risk of skin cancer because their cells do not produce as much pigment to protect their skin.
Those with albinism are at the most risk because their skin produces no pigment at all.
