Jamy’s personal story

While I was visiting a dear friend in Arizona, she noticed a very large spot on my back she did not like. My friend, Jill, felt it was something urgent and was not going to let me leave Arizona until she had a friend who was a dermatologist look at it. We took a picture, sent it to her and immediately got a call that I needed to come in the next day.

Dr. Layton at Spectrum Dermatology was my other guardian angel. When she saw me, I only wanted to have the large spot looked at, but Jill pushed for a full exam. I had no insurance, so I said just take what looks like the worst. Dr. Layton looked at me and said she couldn’t do that. She did a full exam and found four spots that were biopsied.

As I was crying, shaking, and emotionally wrecked, I asked her why she was doing this for me. And her response blew me away: She said she was a doctor and there to save lives. When I got the call several days later, it was the worst-case scenario. Three of the four spots were melanoma, and the other was basal cell carcinoma. I needed some major surgeries to remove them, along with lymph node biopsies, plus I was in Arizona and had to figure out how to get home.

I’m lucky. My surgery happened in July, and the cancer had not spread to my lymph nodes. Had I waited, like I wanted to, I would be telling a very different story. I’ve since had three more precancerous spots removed, and I see my oncologist and dermatologist every three months. I owe my life and every day I wake up to the most amazing friend, Jill Knight, and the most wonderful and compassionate doctor, Dr. Layton. Thank you!