Woman diagnosed with deadly melanoma after she used a sunbed for an hour EVERY day

A young mother has been diagnosed with deadly skin cancer after her parents bought her a sunbed at the age of 16.

Lisa Guthrie has more than 100 moles covering her body.

But each day as a teenager she would set the sunbed to run for one hour while she lay down for a nap.

After giving birth to two children, Mrs Guthrie disposed of her sunbed, but still her obsession with having a tan remained.

She continued to visit her local tanning salon, using beds up to nine minutes four times a week.

And on holiday, so desperate was she to return with a tan, Mrs Guthrie only used a low factor sun cream and oil, and at the slightest hint of a tan disposed of any protection at all.

But, the mother-of-two's tanning addiction was put into stark perspective at a visit to her dermatologist.

The specialist said she had a malignant melanoma, after having two suspicious moles removed from her stomach and back. 

The 33-year-old, form Concert in County Durham, is now in remission, but has been warned she is at high risk of the cancer returning.

'I was obsessed with getting a tan when I was younger,' she said. 'I have always been obsessed with looking good.

'All my neighbours knew I had a sunbed because my room would glow blue.

'At the time if you had a tan you looked good. The tubes on the sunbeds weren't as powerful as they are now.

'You would go on it for 20 minutes. I would set it for an hour and fall asleep, I was that bad.' 

Due to the fact Mrs Guthrie has so many moles, she was sent for yearly appointments with a dermatologist.

Over the years she has had a number removed, but said she was not concerned about skin cancer because each time the biopsies had come back benign.

But in May, at her yearly check, Mrs Guthrie, a beauty blogger, had two more moles removed.

'The nurse said the one on my back looked a little bit grey in colour,' she said. 'It wasn't bleeding or itchy and it didn't effect me in anyway.

'I just thought she was being over cautious.  

'She said lets be safe and get these two off. This was normal to me. It wasn't anything to worry about.

'About two weeks later I was going to Benidorm with the girls on holiday. I plastered my oil and low factor sun cream on still not thinking I had skin cancer. 

'I got back off holiday and about one week after being back I received a telephone call from my doctors' secretary. She said I needed to come in for an appointment.

'I asked why does she need me to come in. She said she couldn't tell me but try not to worry.

'I remember putting the phone down and breaking down. I told my husband "I have got skin cancer I know it". We were both in massive shock.' 

Mrs Guthrie's husband Mal, 41, a lifeguard, accompanied her to her doctor's surgery where she was given the devastating news that she had malignant melanoma.

She said: 'I got upset, it was awful. I have a lot of moles so I had done a lot of research on it. I knew it was the fastest, most dangerous spreading cancer.

'They said they thought they had got it all but they would have to go back and cut wider to make sure it hadn't spread.

'I was handed Macmillan brochures and cancer brochures of people I could talk to. It was all becoming very real.'

Mrs Guthrie, who is mother to Sonny, 11, and Harley, eight, underwent a second operation to check the cancer had not spread.

And after a five-week wait for results she was told she was in remission.

'It is still quite raw. I was given the all clear on Saturday which is fantastic but I am not looking forward to going for my check as it makes me worry they are going to find something else,' she said.

'If I had not been in the system for regular dermatology checks I would have had no reason to think there was a problem. 

'It's changed me and it's made me appreciate life a lot more. It has made us stronger as a family.

'It makes me want to spend as much time with them as I can and enjoy life as much as I can as you don't know what is around the corner.'

Mrs Guthrie is now using her beauty blog to raise awareness of skin cancer among young girls and is warning them not to use the sunbeds and get spray tans instead. 

The 33-year-old, who works as the manager of a dental practice, said: 'I am a lot more cautious now.

'I work until 2pm and if it was hot I used to put my bikini on and sit in my garden and bake.

'Now it does not interest me one little bit. I would rather look after my skin and not have to go through the trauma of this again.

'When I used sunbeds it was quite popular, it was a cool thing to do. I don't think it is now. I think you are more savvy if you don't use sunbeds and look after your skin.

'It is not what you do now it is what you did when you were younger. It may take a few years to catch up with you but it will catch up with you in the end.

'There are some great spray tans out there these days. A tan is not everything.'

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