One student who had a habit of biting her nails developed a rare form of skin cancer that eventually led to her thumb being amputated.
Courtney Whithorn had been bullied at school and that caused her to start biting her nails. It got to the point that she even complete bit her thumbnail off in 2014.
At 21 years old, she said her thumb soon started to turn black but kept that detail hidden from both family and friends for four years.
In July last year, the psychology student got the shock diagnosis that she had acral lentiginous subungual melanoma, a rare form of skin cancer that could have been caused by the trauma of her nail-biting habit.
Despite undergoing four surgeries since the cancer was discovered, Courtney still had to have her thumb amputated.
She said: “When I found out that biting my nail off was the cause of cancer it shattered me. My hand was just constantly in a fist because I didn’t want anyone to see it – not even my parents.
“I got a bit freaked out when my skin started to go black so I showed them for the first time this year. I can’t even explain how self-conscious I was. I always had fake nails to hide it because it was so black. It was like paper whenever it grew back.
“I went to the doctors because my skin started turning black but I went for cosmetic reasons and my GP referred me to a plastic surgeon. I saw two plastic surgeons, and they were thinking to remove my nail bed to get rid of the black and then put a skin graft over it so at least it would be skin color – I was happy with that.
“But before my first surgery to remove the nail bed, the doctors could tell something was wrong and decided to do a biopsy.”
Acral lentiginous subungual melanoma often appears underneath the nails, the palms of the hands, or the soles of the feet. While its cause is not known since it’s not always traced to sun exposure, some studies indicate that prior trauma, such as a cut or injury, could lead to the disease.
Courtney, who moved to The Gold Coast, Australia, from Newton Aycliffe, Co Durham, 9 years ago, was asked to see a specialist in Sydney six weeks later because doctors were unsure if the biopsy was cancerous or not.
She recalled, “They did more tests and when those results came back, I was told that it was a malignant melanoma which was very rare to have there, especially for someone my age and at that size.
“I was obviously very shocked I couldn’t believe it at all. My mom just burst into tears.”
Courtney became even more shocked when doctors told her that the normal protocol for her form of melanoma is amputation. Despite three surgeries to remove cancer while saving the thumb, in the end, they confirmed that they needed to amputate her thumb.
Still recovering from her amputation, Courtney said: “I went in for a third surgery and the doctor told me that if he saw anything cancerous then he would have to take the whole thumb. So I went to sleep not knowing whether or not I was going to wake up with my thumb. When I woke up and it was still there and I was so happy.
“I also had two lymph nodes taken out for them to test whether or not cancer had spread. The pigmentation from my thumb had traveled so it was dark but none of the malignant cells had traveled yet. Literally, everything we’ve caught, we’ve caught it on the cusp of it going to the rest of my body – the timing has just been everything.
“Because it had started to travel, the only option left was amputation but this time I was much more prepared for that news. I wasn’t scared going in for the amputation surgery – I was more nervous as I’m not a big fan of needles and stuff.”
Because her thumb was amputated above the knuckle, her passion for writing will be affected. She also had to halt her studies at Griffiths University to recover.
Courtney recalled that the stress and anxiety of being bullied at school when she was 16 cause her to start nail biting.
“Rumors were started about me and if I sat with people at lunch they would completely ignore me like I didn’t exist. Nail biting became a coping mechanism for me. I didn’t even know I was biting my nails sometimes – it just happened. I sort of lost the feeling because I was doing it that often.
“I didn’t even realize I’d bitten my whole thumbnail off until I saw how much blood was on my hand. It never really grew back the same. It only grew on one side of my thumb and I kept biting it off then eventually the bottom of my nail turned black.”
One classmate, Tyson Donnelly, now 20, stood up for her, and he eventually became her boyfriend. They also became closer after her cancer diagnosis.
Courtney said: “Without my boyfriend or family I honestly don’t know how I would have got through all this. I want to share my story for people who are being bullied and people who are doing the bullying.
“I hope it would make them stop doing what they’re doing or give someone the courage to speak up and get help or tell their parents what’s been happening at school.
“I just wish I was as confident and as outspoken as I am now back then.”
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