A mother-of-two has detailed the moment she found out she had skin cancer while pregnant, in the hopes of educating other about the risks of sun exposure.
Two years ago, a 33-weeks-pregnant Samantha Gutstadt, then 33, was living her dream life, settling into a new home in Santa Monica, California, with her growing family and spending days at the beach and playing outside with her one-year-old son – always while wearing sunscreen and, most often, a hat.
So it came as a horrifying shock to Samantha when she learned that the red marks that appeared on her skin after spending time in the sun were actually Basal Cell Carcinoma, a form of skin cancer.
An unexpected battle: Samantha Gutstadt was diagnosed with skin cancer at 33 when she was 33 weeks pregnant with her second son two years ago
A growing family: Samantha was adjusting to a new life in Santa Monica, California, when she was told she had Basal Cell Carcinoma
Samantha loved spending time outside, but hated the red marks she would get on her skin after her sunny outings.
She wasn’t worried, though. Her doctor told her they were a side-effect of pregnancy, caused by excess blood volume, and that she could laser off anytime, even while pregnant, if they made her self-conscious.
Later, when her aestheticism pointed out a red mark on her forehead and recommended she get it checked out, Samantha told her what her doctor had said, that it was a normal occurrence during pregnancy.
Still, she decided to get all the spots lasered off, with special attention to the red mark on her forehead.
I did not feel beautiful. All I saw when I looked in the mirror was my new jagged scar, still so red and fresh
Yet after the red marks all over Samantha’s body were zapped, the one on her forehead returned. To be safe, she and her doctor decided to biopsy it, though her doctor assured her the results would come back negative.
And so a pregnant Samantha returned home that day feeling ‘carefree and filled with joy,’ not realizing her perfect world was about to be shaken.
‘We had found a house not far from the beach, which would become our new home for our growing family. My swelling belly made me feel beautiful and feminine and skin cancer was the last thing on my mind,’ she shared in an essay.
But, a week later, with her husband out of town, Samantha was driving her son to her favorite restaurant for a last dinner before the new baby arrived, when she got a call that would change her life. She had skin cancer.
‘My heart sank and tears quickly sprung to my eyes. My son asked what was wrong and I smiled and said I was okay,’ Samantha said.
An unlikely victim of skin cancer: The mother-of-two grew up in Canada, only getting direct sunlight two months out of the year, and wore hats when strolling through the beach
It happened to her: The now-35-year-old said that although she had heard of skin cancer, she believed it was only something that happened to older people obsessed with tanning
Her doctor told the her that she had Basal Cell Carcinoma. The good news was that she would need no further treatment after getting it removed. The bad news was that she would need surgery to remove it, and had a 50 per cent chance of getting another cancerous spot over the next five years.
She described how she felt hearing that she’d always live in fear of cancer coming back: ‘Scared, embarrassed, confused and in that moment, I felt so helpless.’
Like most people, Samantha had heard of acquaintances that had skin cancer, but she believed it was only something that happened to older people who spent years under the sun – definitely not someone who grew up in Canada, receiving direct sunlight for only two months of the year, and was ‘pasty while at best’.
She had played competitive tennis in Florida twice a year, but she wore a hat and sunscreen. She had used a tanning bed to look darker for her high school prom, and recalled possibly going tanning a few other times, but she was ‘pretty sure’ she had covered her face with a towel, since she ‘didn’t want to get wrinkles.’
She did recall once in 1988 when she got a bad sunburn after her mom left her at the neighbor’s pool and no one put sunscreen on her, leaving freckles on her skin forever. There was also a trip to Italy during which she ‘slathered on’ tanning oil.
A diagnosis for life: Samantha was left scared and helpless after being told after removing the cancer, she had a 50 per cent chance of getting another malignant spot
Scarred inside and out: After Samantha had the cancer removed, she still struggled with the physical and emotional scars it left behind
Still, she thought that cancer surely couldn’t happen to a young women who hadn’t had extreme sun exposure and had taken precautions as often as she did. Talk of cancer ‘would go in one ear and out the other. Something that happens to ‘other people,’ she admitted.
But after she was told it did happen to her, she called her mom and husband, telling them not to worry or tell anyone the news.
The weeks after her diagnosis were a blur, she said, spent with doctors and meetings, and googling way too much. Samantha and her doctors decided it would be best to have the surgery when she was 35 weeks pregnant, since she worked on camera as an actress and this decided with the time she would not be working.
‘I could hide this,’ she thought at the time.
Yet the expecting mother was filled with fear: ‘What if it was huge? What if I was left with a disfiguring scar? What if all this stress put me into early labor? What if I got more?’
The surgery went as planned and her baby was born a few weeks later, on time and healthy. But, even seemingly out of the woods, Samantha did not feel well emotionally, not having dealt with the trauma of going through a life-threatening disease.
‘I did NOT feel beautiful. All I saw when I looked in the mirror was my new jagged scar, still so red and fresh. I saw a tired, new mom, who wasn’t sleeping and hadn’t yet dealt with the emotional scars that accompanied the physical ones,’ Samantha shared.
Healed in every way: Two years later, the actress is ready to share her experience and raise awareness about skin cancer
The silver lining: Samantha is happy she can now teach her two sons Ryder and Asherskin how to enjoy the sun while protecting their skin
Now, after two years, she finally feels healed both inside and out, and is willing to tell her story. She hopes to raise awareness and warn people who may feel, as she did, that they can’t get skin cancer because they’re not the usual subject.
She said she feels beautiful again, with the scar on her forehead completely healed and almost undetectable. The now-35-year-old wears sunscreen every day, and has amassed a hat collection that she wears ‘religiously’. She goes to the dermatologist every six months, and more often if she sees anything worrisome.
Most of all, she tries to educate her sons Ryder and Asherskin about the dangers of too much sun exposure. One is olive-skinned like his father, and the other has fair skin like Samantha, and has already had his first mole, on his scalp.
‘I will always watch him like a hawk,’ she promised. ‘I will empower them to love the sun and all the amazing things the outdoors has to offer, while learning to protect their [skin]. They will know more then I did. And I am so grateful for that’.