In 2018, Deirdre Bonass noticed a small dot of dry skin beside her nose. As the irritation persisted, she went to her GP in Wexford, who prescribed her a cream for a typical cold sore or dry skin. “Even after applying the cream, the once small dot grew much bigger and became more aggressive, it was scabby and very itchy”, explains Deirdre.
“I was sent to a Dermatologist in Waterford and he referred me on for a biopsy. A week later, I was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma (BCC), a form of non-melanoma skin cancer. As you can imagine, this was a shock to me and my family, but things moved very quickly from there. I was more or less straight into surgery to remove the dot of skin around my nose, and they also noticed another patch near my nose, about the size of a euro coin, they had to remove as well.”
This procedure kept Deirdre’s skin cancer at bay for a number of years, but in January 2022, then-55 years old, she noticed more skin irritation on her face and her back. “My nose was getting really red and irritated. I think I knew myself from previous experience what it was, so I went to my GP and was prescribed an anti-bacterial cream—I tried that, but it made no difference.” Similar to her experience in 2018, once the round of cream didn’t work, Deirdre was referred to a Dermatologist in Waterford, only this time, in a post-Covid world, the waiting list due to the backlog, was much longer.
"It wasn’t until June 2022 that I got confirmation that I was actually on the waiting list to see the Dermatologist. I became increasingly concerned that it was going to take a very long time to be seen to. My GP wrote to the hospital a number of times asking that I be seen as a matter of urgency and it was the September when I rang the hospital myself, explained my own situation and my personal history of having this cancer 4 years previously. A week later, I received confirmation that I was now on the ‘Priority Waiting List’.
Despite being on the Priority Waiting List, it wouldn’t be until May 2023 when Deirdre was finally seen to by a Dermatologist, who referred her to the Oncologist. After assessment, she was informed she needed chemotherapy for skin cancer straight away. “It was so frustrating to be left like that on a waiting list, and then the doctors took one look at me and said ‘yeah, this is skin cancer’. They explained to me that my surgery in 2018 must not have gotten rid of all the cancer. The doctor recommended we go with Efudex Chemotherapy Cream, that this would be more efficient than surgery.”
The treatment was very challenging explains Deirdre. “You’re into 4 weeks of applying this cream twice daily, morning and evening. As the skin irritation had spread to my back, I needed family members to apply the cream there for me. The doctor also gave me a leaflet showing the stages of the treatment and the impact it will have on my skin – I showed this to family and friends so that they would also be prepared, but nothing could really prepare us for how bad it would get.”
"The doctor also gave me a leaflet showing the stages of the treatment and the impact it will have on my skin – I showed this to family and friends so that they would also be prepared, but nothing could really prepare us for how bad it would get.”
“By the second week of treatment, my skin started to break out in spots and blotches and by the third week, I had broken out in blisters and your face and skin just feels so tight. The burning sensation when you’re still having to apply the cream, I can’t describe it. It’s almost like rubbing a hot iron over your face. With this pain that you’re going through, the only pain relief I was allowed to take was normal paracetamol. The fourth week was just horrendous. My face had completely broken out. My face was raw and you’re still having to apply the cream.”
Following the 4-week round of Chemotherapy Cream, Deirdre is now into 8 weeks of recovery. “My skin is basically like a newborn baby’s – it’s growing back, it’s new and tender. All the crustiness has now come off, just feels raw, like I’ve been sunburnt. I’ve been prescribed penicillin to guard against possible infection.”
Going forward, Deirdre explains that she will have to adapt and make changes to how she goes about her daily life. “I’ll probably never leave the house again without a hat on. I love my gardening and I love spending time with my grandchildren, being outside with them playing, I’ll just need to be so much more careful. My family and friends as well, they’ve been impacted by it and if something positive can come out of this, it will be that they cover up and protect their skin.”
"As a single mother to six children, I know I have used suncream sparingly in the past because you’re trying to stretch out how long a bottle lasts. If we want people to protect their skin, we have to make it more affordable.”
As a single mother to six children, Deirdre says the cost of suncream poses a barrier to protecting your skin. “Suncream can be expensive, particularly if you are trying to keep the kids safe in the sun. As a single mother to six children, I know I have used suncream sparingly in the past because you’re trying to stretch out how long a bottle lasts. If we want people to protect their skin, we have to make it more affordable.”
Lastly, Deirdre says she has found great strength in sharing her story across her own network on Facebook. “I think it has kept me going. I’ve put up videos and talked people through what I’m going through and I have had great support. I know that my personal experience has had a huge impact on people I know. I don’t think the awareness of skin cancer and the realities are known to people. I know my own local pharmacy in Wexford has said that they’ve seen a huge take up in people buying Factor 50 as people become aware of my situation. I know that’s only anecdotal but that’s what we need, because I think in Ireland, we don’t take enough precautions, we don’t protect our skin enough—people are absolutely shocked when I tell them 13,000 people a year get diagnosed with skin cancer in Ireland.”
“I think we need to do better with the messaging and marketing around this, because you usually get these nice images of families at the seaside applying suncream, but I think we could do with maybe showing the harsher realities of what skin cancer can look like. That’s why I want to tell my story, not to scare people, but to show people the reality of living with skin cancer, the treatment and recovery process, and to encourage people to exercise caution in the sun.”
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