As a newly-wed Chelsea Rees was enjoying life, a great job and a supportive family around her, but a skin cancer diagnosis wasn’t something she expected to face.

The consultant ecologist from Cardiff sought help after being told she had a malignant melanoma in February this year. Now she is keen to ensure others check their bodies for unusual changes.

Chelsea, 29, explained. “I sadly lost my uncle to cancer in August 2025. This really hit our family hard and shortly after the funeral I had a dream that a mole on my chest had spread and was cancer.

She explained: 

“But after that dream I went to my GP and saw a nurse the next day. She checked against the ABCDE checklist method and said it was nothing to worry about. It was just under 11mm in size and the nurse said she would take some photos and sent them to dermatology to ask for their opinion. I was happy to have it escalated.”

Having been sent to the University Hospital of Wales UHW dermatology department as a follow up, Chelsea was booked in to have the mole removed and investigated further.

Chelsea explained:

“I then waited for results, I didn't hear anything and kept being told no news is good news. But two months later I got a letter saying it was a stage 1b malignant melanoma. This was a shock and I had an appointment in February to see my surgeon again.

“However, when I turned up it was to see a Macmillan nurse, which really threw me and I had a full body scan and my lymph nodes were checked.”

She underwent a wide local excision, which is a surgery used to remove cancer cells that may have spread in the area. Six weeks later Chelsea was given the all-clear, but still the doubts about what could have been stayed with her and that’s when she turned to us.

“I had only been married to my husband Kyle for just over a year and it puts things into perspective, the feelings of ‘What If’ did creep in. I have a very close family who are supportive, and also my work has also been understanding, making sure that as my job requires me to work outside more, they are looking out for me, ensuring I get rest breaks and the support I need.

“I would encourage everyone to be aware of any changes in their bodies and to check for changing shapes of moles and anything that concerns them to book a GP appointment.”