
“For two years, my mom worried about a small blemish on her cheek. It refused to go away causing her to be more and more worried as she’d had been told of pre-cancerous cells in that same spot 10 years ago.” – Lisa Chartrand
Despite mentioning it several times to her family physician, he refused to refer her to a dermatologist and said “it was nothing to worry about”. But when visiting her mom over the Christmas break in 2023, Lisa could see the doubt and worry in her mom’s eyes. Neither of them were convinced it was nothing to worry about.
“We weren’t getting the referral we needed, and especially given her past history, I turned to Google to look for other resources”, says Lisa.
That’s when Lisa found GetSkinHelp. Lisa’s mom was hesitant at first—worried about privacy concerns and even just using the technology itself –but she also knew she needed to do something to put her worries to rest. With the help of her family, she uploaded three images of her skin concern and then received an AI assessment. When the app flagged the blemish as potentially skin cancer, they followed through with scheduling a virtual appointment with nurse practitioner – Cheryl Yip.
After examining the blemish and the uploaded photos, Cheryl was efficient, comforting and was able to answer any questions and concerns that Lisa’s mom had and most incredibly was able to refer her to a dermatologist in Ottawa.
A couple of weeks after her dermatology appointment, they discovered that Lisa’s mom indeed had skin cancer but it wasn’t until the surgery on her face a month later that they realized it was melanoma. The words “cancer” and “melanoma” sent a shockwave through both of them and it wasn’t until three weeks later (a very long three weeks) that the good news came in that the surgeon had gotten ALL the cancer.
Don’t hesitate to get a second opinion. It’s important to listen to your instincts and advocate for your health.
If you feel something isn’t right, speak up, even if it’s just a small concern, it’s always worth getting checked out. Receive an AI assessment by downloading our app, book with us today.