Lately we have been discussing skin cancers. Instead of finding something specifically on melanoma I searched for 'skin cancer' in the news and I found this article (1st link below). It isn't about skin cancer specifically, but I found it to be worth discussing (that and I didn't want to focus on a specific cancer to be redundant with any other posts). This article discusses how at least 7,000 patients may have been misdiagnosed at the Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI). An inquiry ensued and the figures about the mistakes were released. Now why is this relevant? Well even though I one day hope to become a doctor, I know better than to trust only one diagnosis from one person. People make mistakes, and doctors are people. With matters such as skin cancer it is much better to be self aware about your body and to do self-exams (2nd link below). If you find something, or even if a doctor finds something and it is thought to be something serious then you should get different opinions from different doctors. As Dr. Hens told us herself, she was almost misdiagnosed when she only had a bad case of poison ivy.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9090525/Thousands-of-misdiagnoses-feared-in-cancer-scandal.html
http://skincancer.about.com/od/preventionandriskfactors/a/selfexam.htm
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