Welcome to Season 2 of the Spot On podcast. In Season 1, we focused on the fundamentals of skin cancer, interviewing some of Australia's leading clinicians on the topic. In this season, we're focused more on the human side of a diagnosis.
MSCAN is thrilled to have renowned journalist Deborah Knight involved and interviewing patients about their journey with skin cancer and the road ahead.
In this episode you will hear from Jarryd Roughead who faced a diagnosis of advanced melanoma, and Dr Donna Milne from his treating team.
Jarryd Roughead
Jarryd is well recognised as an AFL superstar, and a very successful football career playing for Hawthorn. He’s also overcome advanced melanoma.
Jarryd was first diagnosed with a melanoma on his lip in 2015. The melanoma was removed, and life continued along well. During a routine check-up in 2016, a scan showed that the melanoma had moved to his lungs.
Jarryd was treated with immunotherapy. Despite some challenging side effects, the treatment worked. Jarryd Roughead’s journey of advanced melanoma is detailed in his book Roughy.
Dr Donna Milne
Donna is a registered nurse and has worked at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne since 2002. For the last 12 years Donna has worked as a clinical nurse consultant in the melanoma and skin service. More recently she has also taken on a nurse consultant team lead role and is part of the nursing leadership team at Peter Mac. Donna is also involved in national committees and advisory boards providing advice on patient resources, education for nurses and optimal care for patients with melanoma.
Donna’s PhD investigated the perceptions of palliative care services held by people with advanced cancer. Her other research interests include understanding the needs and experiences of patients with melanoma receiving targeted and immune therapies and their family members.