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A mum who had a bruise on her fingernail later discovered the mark was cancer.
Stacey Boss discovered the unusual mark back in 2019, but only sought help after a nail technician advised her to.
Despite her freighting diagnosis, the mum-of-one jokes that she enjoys a ‘ten percent discount’ on manicures because of her condition.
The 32-year-old revealed that she’d originally been refused a nail appointment when the beautician spotted the think brown streak lurking under her false nails.
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"It was thin and skinny and almost as if someone had dented a mark on it, by the end it looked like a smiley face due to the shadow of the line, the dent and the way the cuticle grows,” said Stacey, who had brushed off the growing bruise.
However, it was soon apparent that there was much more going on beneath the surface during Stacey's appointment.
"A nail technician refused to do a manicure and asked me to have it investigated with dermatology,” she revealed, saying: "I'd noticed it for a long time and just kind of shrugged it off as maybe a bruise.”
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Despite the mark being an indicator of cancer, Stacey struggled to see her specialist due to the delays following the pandemic.
The rapper and record label owner was later diagnosed with subungual melanoma - a rare type of skin cancer that occurs under the nails.
The bad news didn’t shock Stacey as she’d been expecting though, with the Glaswegian admitting that she’d ‘already known’.
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"I believe it was the same way I knew I had a brain tumour, I knew something was wrong. I had anxiety, my whole body was changing, the line was never going away, it was always there,” she said, adding: “I'd accepted the possibility of losing my nail so that mentally I was prepared for it being in situ."
Although the late 2022 biopsy confirmed the worst, it wouldn’t be until March 2023 that Stacey was able to finally have the nail removed along with part of her finger bone.
Thankfully, the cancer has not spread to other parts of her body, like her lymph nodes.
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Stacey now encourages others to seek help if they notice a similar mark on their nail and has publicly thanked her nail tech for warning her about the condition.
"The nail technician possibly saved my life, she's well trained and was very aware, more than me,” the music lover admitted, adding: "I'd tell others to check your nails, maybe not a daily thing but every now and again."
Whilst the nail may never recover, Stacey is still wants to be stylish and regularly gets manicures.
She joked: "If I get a discount, we call it a ten percent discount because I've only got nine fingers [nails].
Katherine Sidnell