'How I lost my EAR to a single little spot which turned out to be cancer'
Laura McFerran did not let her cancer battle stop her graduating as a teacher and says 'my pupils are fascinated'
Lauren McFerran at her graduation at Liverpool University
It all began with a dark spot that Laura McFerran noticed in the mirror.
She was only 20 – and it meant she faced an agonising cancer battle in which she would lose her entire right ear.
Lauren had just been deciding where to have a new piercing when she noticed her mole.
She went straight to her GP, who removed the growth and sent it for tests.
Two months later, in February 2015, it had grown back.
Specialists at Clatterbridge Cancer Centre on the Wirral, Merseyside, diagnosed her with malignant melanoma – a type of skin cancer that spreads.
The mole grew and was removed by came back with a vengeance
Lauren was amazed because she had always hidden in the shade from the sun. A typical break for her would be walking in York shire with her boyfriend Dave.
She said: “I’d never been on a sun bed and I had only been on one beach holiday.”
Lauren first had an operation to remove the tip of her right ear. Then she was told her lymph nodes were diseased and 20 were taken from her neck.
Lauren's ear tip is removed
Lauren had to have lymph nodes
Lauren McFerran at her graduation at Liverpool University
It all began with a dark spot that Laura McFerran noticed in the mirror.
She was only 20 – and it meant she faced an agonising cancer battle in which she would lose her entire right ear.
Lauren had just been deciding where to have a new piercing when she noticed her mole.
She went straight to her GP, who removed the growth and sent it for tests.
Two months later, in February 2015, it had grown back.
Specialists at Clatterbridge Cancer Centre on the Wirral, Merseyside, diagnosed her with malignant melanoma – a type of skin cancer that spreads.
The mole grew and was removed by came back with a vengeance
Lauren was amazed because she had always hidden in the shade from the sun. A typical break for her would be walking in York shire with her boyfriend Dave.
She said: “I’d never been on a sun bed and I had only been on one beach holiday.”
Lauren first had an operation to remove the tip of her right ear. Then she was told her lymph nodes were diseased and 20 were taken from her neck.
Lauren's ear tip is removed
Lauren had to have lymph nodes
removed from her neck
Still the fight was not over. Four months after surgery, in August last year, Lauren noticed a bruise-like mark on her cheek.
The cancer was back and she was told the ear would have to come off.
Skin was grafted from Lauren’s arm and groin to repair her cheek and she had radiotherapy for six weeks.
Despite her ordeal she managed to finish a university degree and complete teacher’s training.
“I was on a teacher placement at a primary school when I had my ear taken away and a few of the children asked questions. Luckily it’s not affected my hearing at all.”
The cancer was back and she was told the ear would have to come off.
Skin was grafted from Lauren’s arm and groin to repair her cheek and she had radiotherapy for six weeks.
Despite her ordeal she managed to finish a university degree and complete teacher’s training.
“I was on a teacher placement at a primary school when I had my ear taken away and a few of the children asked questions. Luckily it’s not affected my hearing at all.”
Lauren's cancer returned
Lauren, from Wallasey, took only two weeks off sick from her placement. And last month she graduated as a teacher from Edge Hill University, Lancs.
She said: “I think studying and working hard helped me cope.
“Of course it bothered me when I first had the ear removed but I don’t worry now. The pupils are fascinated.”
She has been measured for a prosthetic ear which will be fitted this month. She said: “You can have as many piercings as you like in it so I’ll have a top earring in after all.”
Lauren is raising cash for the Clatterbridge Cancer Charity and Teenage Cancer Trust.
She said: “I think studying and working hard helped me cope.
“Of course it bothered me when I first had the ear removed but I don’t worry now. The pupils are fascinated.”
She has been measured for a prosthetic ear which will be fitted this month. She said: “You can have as many piercings as you like in it so I’ll have a top earring in after all.”
Lauren is raising cash for the Clatterbridge Cancer Charity and Teenage Cancer Trust.
