Former Beauty Queen Says Nail Infection Likely Saved Her Life, Calls It ‘A sign from God’
I will admit to feeling some trepidation the first time I went to see a dermatologist. I’ve lived most of my life in sunny places and the evidence of sun damage shows in mottled patches along my forehead and nose.
The father of a friend passed away several years ago from metastatic melanoma; the cancer had spread to multiple internal organs. So relief washed over me when the doctor told me to stop worrying.
However, he said that I should pay attention to my nail beds because any odd discoloration could owe to melanoma. That’s something an Illinois beauty queen knows all too well.
Karolina Jasko was getting her nails done a lot, according to Metro. Due to her modeling ambitions, the former Miss Illinois would have acrylic nails applied multiple times per month.
She also had gel polish put on top of her nails. The treatment involves sticking one’s hands underneath an ultraviolet light to cure the polish.
Everything seemed fine until Jasko’s nail technician noticed a dark line running from her nail bed to the end of her thumb, a line Jasko attributed to a bruise. She initially ignored it, but then her thumb began to swell and ache.
She went to see her doctor, who said the swelling owed to a simple infection, “Today” reported. That was when he noticed the line on her thumb and grew concerned.
One visit to the dermatologist and a biopsy later, and she had a terrifying diagnosis: subungal melanoma. Though only comprising less than 5 percent of all melanoma cases, it can be every bit as deadly as its more common counterparts.
In fact, it’s the very kind of cancer that killed reggae legend Bob Marley at the age of 36. How can you tell if you have it?
The primary symptom is called melanonychia. It’s simply a long streak on the nail like the kind that Jasko noticed.
Multiple streaks are usually natural pigmentation, but a single streak means you should get to a doctor ASAP.
Physicians recommend trying to shield your skin from all kinds of ultraviolet light, including your fingers. That means avoiding nail treatments.
“It’s like tanning beds for your hands,” Dr. Vishal Patel, an assistant professor of dermatology at the George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences in Washington, D.C., told “Today.”
“We’re seeing a lot of patients having not only melanomas, but all types of skin cancers around the finger tips and the cuticles.”
Fortunately, Jasko’s doctor got to her in time. The treatment was radical, though.
Surgeons removed the entirety of her nail matrix, leaving her without a thumbnail. They covered the space with a skin graft.
“They still don’t know where the infection came from,” Jasko said. “They said that was like a sign from God … because if I would have waited longer and not come in with that, it could have been possible the melanoma would have spread.”
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