Landscaper Dad, 47, Worked Outside For YEARS With No Shirt And No Sunscreen: Then He Felt A Lump In His Armpit That Turned Out To Be Cancer

Shane McCormick is now warning other people who work outside to wear sunscreen and check their skin for suspicious moles.

Danielle Cinone

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Protecting Yourself From Skin Cancer

Shane McCormick, 47, didn’t protect his skin as he worked as a landscape gardener for 13 years. He first was diagnosed with cancer in 2017, but it was removed during a biopsy of a mole on his back. Two years later, the cancer returned in the form of a tumor under his armpit.
Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that starts in the same cells that give your skin, hair and eyes their color.
Paying attention to moles or growths on your skin is an easy way to look out for melanoma since changes to a mole you've had for a while or developing a new growth you don't remember having on your skin could be signs of this cancer, according to SurvivorNet's experts.
The American Cancer Society estimates that 99,780 new melanomas will be diagnosed in the United States in 2022.

Skin cancer can show up in various sizes, shapes, and forms, but in Shane McCormick’s case, the disease showed up in a mole on his back and a lump under his armpit.

McCormick, a 47-year-old former landscape gardener who recently joined Melanoma UK as an ambassador for outdoor workers, is now urging others to stay protected in the sun after undergoing surgery and immunotherapy.

"I was a landscape gardener for 13 years and never worried about using sun cream or staying in the shade,” McCormick told The Independent. “I wore a T-shirt and shorts most days and, if it was a warm day, my top would come off. I think most industries that work outside are like that.”

"I suppose looking back, I was ignorant to the possibilities and consequences of being out in the sun all day every day."

McCormick, a husband to his 50-year-old wife Denise and father of two, was first diagnosed with skin cancer in 2017 when he to the doctor after noticing a new mole on his back. The mole was removed by a biopsy, but the cancer returned two years later and spread to his lymph nodes.

He noted that approximately eight years before his first cancer diagnosis, his job role changed and he no longer spent as much time in the sun, but the damage to his skin was already done. McCormick also wasn’t too worried when he got his mole checked, he insists he cared more about getting a freckle removed on his face. And it wasn’t until he visited a dermatologist that he realized his skin was “quite damaged” and used the diagnosis as a wake-up call to practice sun safety.

Shane McCormick, 47, who works in landscaping, has opened up about his skin cancer diagnosis (Photo Credit: Melanoma UK)

The Southhampton, England resident, who now works as a landscaping sector manager, later discovered a tennis ball-sized lump under his arm in 2019, which he learned was a cancerous tumor. He had the tumor and 24 lymph nodes removed during his operation in January 2020. After completing immunotherapy in March 2020, he was given the “all-clear.”

McCormick, who now wears a lymphoedema sleeve over the area where his surgery took place and avoids the sun, is urging anyone who notices marks on their body that increase in size, change shape or color, bleed, itch, or become crusty on the surface to get checked by their doctor.

“Sunscreen should be part of essential PPE for builders and outdoor tradespeople,” said McCormick, who is raising awareness with the help of Melanoma UK and Jewson’s “Hard Hat Your Skin” campaign. “I want people to be aware of the signs to look out for so that other people won't face the same diagnosis I did.”

Understanding Melanoma

Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that starts in the same cells that give your skin, hair and eyes their color. The American Cancer Society estimates that about 99,780 new melanomas will be diagnosed in the United States in 2022.

And while the ACS says the risk of melanoma increases as people age with the average age of diagnosis being 65, the disease is not uncommon among those younger than 30. In fact, it's one of the most common cancers in young adults (especially young women).

The disease can develop from an existing mole or appear as a dark or pink growth on the skin even in places on the body that never see the sun. It's also known to be the deadliest form of skin cancer.

"Melanomas are the deadliest type of skin cancer because they have a tendency to spread to other parts of the body," explains Dr. Anna Pavlick, a medical oncologist with Weill Cornell Medicine who specializes in treating skin cancer.

Paying Attention to Your Skin

Keeping an eye on the moles or growths on your skin is an easy way to keep an eye out for melanoma. Changes to a mole you've had for a while or developing a new growth you don't remember having on your skin could be signs of this cancer, according to SurvivorNet's experts.

Examining Your Skin for Melanoma Remember ABCDE

Dr. Cecilia Larocca of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute gives SurvivorNet an overview of things to look out for with moles using the ABCDE self-screening method:

Asymmetrical moles: "If you drew a line straight down the center of the mole, would the sides match?"
Borders that are "irregular, jagged, not smooth." It can also stand for bleeding.
Colors: "Multiple distinct colors in the mole."
Diameter: "Larger than 6mm, about the size of a pencil head eraser."
Evolution: "This may be the most important," she says. "Anything that is changing over time such as gaining color, losing color, painful, itching, hurting, changing shape, etc."

Spots on our skin are often harmless, but it's still important to keep an eye on them and reach out to your doctor if you see any changes or find a growth anywhere on your skin that looks suspicious.

Protecting Your Skin

In order to lower your skin cancer risk, it's imperative that you protect your skin with some simple steps. Dr. Dendy Engelman lays out in an earlier interview some easy ways to protect yourself from skin cancer. Dr. Engelman says:

Avoid the sun during peak hours This means from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It doesn't mean you should never go outside during the middle of the day, but make sure you're protected when you do venture outdoors.
Cover your skin and eyes A wide-brim hat and sunglasses will protect your face, the top of your head, your ears, and the delicate skin around your eyes.
Wear an SPF of 30 or higher This is easy enough. Plenty of facial moisturizers have SPF built into them.
Get an annual skin check You can check your own skin for anything that looks out of the ordinary, but you should still get a yearly check to make sure you didn't miss anything. If you do happen to notice anything out of the ordinary in between checks, schedule an appointment to talk to your doctor about it ASAP it is always worth it to make sure.
Avoid tanning beds. Tanning beds can significantly increase your risk of developing melanoma. If you feel like you're just too pale, Dr. Engelman recommends a sunless tanner. "There's absolutely no benefit to going to a tanning bed," Dr. Engelman says.

Top 5 Ways to Protect Your Skin From Skin Cancer

Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

Danielle Cinone is a writer at SurvivorNet. Read More

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