Kaci Foster, Stage I

My dad started battling both squamous cell and basal cell carcinomas in the 1990s, so I grew up knowing about skin cancer. My dad was red-headed and blue-eyed, and I knew I had to be careful because I was blond and green-eyed. My mom, on the other hand, was a natural brunette with brown eyes who loved the sun. We always joked that she was naturally dark complected and never had to worry like us fair folks. In early 2024, my mom started having back pain. The doctor dismissed it as a pinched nerve. The following week, she couldn’t walk. We took her to the ER and found out her spine was broken in 3 places and there were tumors on it. She was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma. It had already spread to her skull, shoulder blade, spine, lungs, and liver. She died 89 days after she was diagnosed — May 19, 2024 — 17 days after she turned 69. I threw her a birthday party in the hospital and we shaved her head because the tumor on her scalp was bothering her. I was told that with having a parent who had melanoma and another parent with basal cell and squamous cell, that I was at higher risk of developing skin cancer. So, I spoke with a dermatologist and got checked. They told me to get checked every six months. During my second six-month check-up, the doctor did a biopsy, I thought he was just being precautious. But then he called me at 8:00 pm at night a week or so later. I knew for a doctor to call me at night, it wasn’t good. He told me that I had melanoma, just like my mom. I cried. I was in shock. I thought if I were to get a skin cancer, it would be like my dad’s. However, we caught it early. I had wide excision surgery the following month and we got clear margins. I was told to go every four months for the next three years. During my next check-up, they did two more biopsies. They were in the process of turning, but they cut enough out of me with the biopsies that I got clear margins. However, the doctor (there are more than one at the practice) told me that my face was covered with precancers for squamous cell carcinoma. Previously, I been diagnosed with rosacea, eczema, and chronic hives. I’ve had skin problems my entire life. So, I believed that the spots on my face were rosacea. They weren’t. The doctor told me that I had way more than anyone else my age. I underwent Photodynamic Therapy in December. Boy, it hurt being under that light! I cried. But then I could concentrate on healing. I thought to myself – it still way better than the cream that my dad puts on his face every few years! I went for my follow-up at the end of January. The photodynamic therapy didn’t get it all. I cried. I was told that I could either go another round or opt for a new chemotherapy cream called Kefunova. I was due to accept a Lifetime Achievement Award from WVU Tech in February and asked her if I could do it after I got my award. I didn’t want to look scary in my pictures. She said I could. So, I started Kefunova a few weeks ago. It is supposedly quicker, stronger, and better for your skin than Efudex. I’m not going to lie, it hurt. I’m still broken out. I go back in early April and pray this round got it all this time. I’ll keep on fighting because I’ve got something my mom never had — the knowledge to detect cancer early. And now that I have it, it won’t have me! Image attached is a picture of me and my mom the summer before she died of metastatic melanoma and two years before my own melanoma diagnosis.

Kaci Foster, Stage I Melanoma Survivor
Date of Diagnosis: 07/24/2025
Cannelton, West Virginia