4 days ago
Scots mum regrets 'silly' choice not to wear sunhat after shock cancer diagnosis
"Not wearing a hat was probably a bit of a vanity. I thought 'I'm not wearing a hat, I've got nice long hair'. I wanted to show it off and not wear a hat."
A Scots mum who refused to wear a sunhat to show off her hair has told of her shock when a scab on her head turned out to be cancerous.
Donna McKellar, 54, credits her hairdresser for "saving her life" after they spent a year urging her to get the 50p-sized scab on her head looked at.
The Glasgow bar manager believed the itchy mark, which she'd had for four years, was harmless and caused by catching a childhood scar with her hairbrush.
She visited her GP and was referred to the hospital. However, she was shocked when a biopsy revealed she had basal cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer, in July 2023.
Donna said: "Whenever we were on holiday I was always putting suncream on my legs and on my body. But you don't really think of your scalp which is the thing that's getting directly hit by the sun first.
"Not wearing a hat was probably a bit of a vanity. I thought 'I'm not wearing a hat, I've got nice long hair'. I wanted to show it off and not wear a hat.
"It's a bit silly. I just don't think I actually gave my scalp any thought."
The mum-of-two underwent an operation to remove the cancer and put a skin graft over the area, which has left her with a bald patch.
She added: "I was devastated when I heard the word 'cancer' because I lost my parents and my sister in the space of five years to three different cancers."
Now cancer-free, Donna says she regrets not protecting her head when out in the sun. She added: "Of course I had regrets.
"Since the diagnosis when I've been abroad I've always got a hat on or a headband.
"I've got to wear a headband to cover the wound when I'm on holiday because it's more susceptible to the sun now."
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Donna said her hairdresser initially pointed out the scab in 2021. She explained: "My hairdresser did help to save my life by encouraging me to go and get checked.
"I had a scab on my head. I had an old scar from when I was a child, I just thought that I'd caught it with my brush and it had scabbed over.
"My fingers were always at it and I used to keep picking at it and it used to bleed quite a lot.
"I had that for a number of years and it was my hairdresser who kept saying 'Donna will you please go and get that checked out, I don't like it at all'.
"Eventually I went to my GP who referred me to dermatology, they diagnosed it as basal cell carcinoma.
"The first surgery was to remove the cancer from my scalp and they took a piece of skin from my clavicle and did a skin graft onto that.
"The two surgeries I've had since then have been cutting the skin graft back, so that I'm not left with such a big bald patch on my head.
"They think I just require another two and then that should be done."
Donna is now encouraging other people to wear head coverings or buy a specific suncream to use on their scalps.
Donna said: "Get a hat on or get some suncream - you can get specific ones for your scalp.
"Make sure you're covered up. People think they look ridiculous with a hat on, but I'd rather look ridiculous.
"You're going to look more ridiculous when you've lost half your hair and half your scalp if it has to get cut out."
Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common type of skin cancer, which develops in the top layer of the skin (epidermis).
Basal cell carcinomas can occur anywhere on the body but are most common in areas that are exposed to the sun such as the face, head, neck, and ears.
They are often first noticed as a scab that bleeds and does not heal completely or a new lump on the skin.
