{"id":465891,"date":"2026-06-07T20:48:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T20:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/465891\/"},"modified":"2026-06-07T20:48:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T20:48:10","slug":"whangarei-mum-with-stage-4-melanoma-racing-to-fund-life-saving-treatment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/465891\/","title":{"rendered":"Whang\u0101rei mum with stage 4 melanoma racing to fund life-saving treatment"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cNow they\u2019re saying melanoma cells can stay dormant in your body, and given the right environment they can appear again. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s scary for me; I thought I was doing everything right, watching every mole and getting checked.\u201d <\/p>\n

Scott-Davidson\u2019s health scare began in April when she found a swollen lump under her armpit and felt nauseous. <\/p>\n

Believing she had the flu or a bug, she visited White Cross who prescribed antibiotics and advised her to go to hospital if symptoms persisted. <\/p>\n

When she visited Whang\u0101rei Hospital: \u201cI showed them the lump and they did lots of tests and couldn\u2019t figure it out. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as I said I\u2019d had melanoma on my back before it all went very quiet.\u201d <\/p>\n

More tests followed, showing the cancer had spread through her body. <\/p>\n

Scott-Davidson, an early childhood teacher, began immunotherapy with nivolumab, a drug funded by the health system. <\/p>\n

However, an additional treatment, ipilimumab, which when used with nivolumab offers a higher chance of survival and can reduce the risk of melanoma returning, is not available to her. <\/p>\n

Pharmac<\/a> widened access to two medicines for melanoma patients from May, meaning both drugs are now funded <\/a>for people with stage 3B to stage 4 melanoma that can be removed with surgery. <\/p>\n

Scott-Davidson has been told she isn\u2019t eligible because her cancer has spread too far to be removed with surgery. <\/p>\n

She is now trying to raise $63,000 to access ipilimumab and support the realities that come with cancer treatment, including any travel. <\/p>\n

A Givealittle page<\/a> has so far raised more than $16,000. <\/p>\n

\u201cEverything has changed quickly, and right now time matters,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am a mum to three incredible teenagers, they are my reason for fighting so hard. <\/p>\n

\u201cI want more time with them … more milestones, more laughs, more hugs, more ordinary moments that suddenly mean everything. <\/p>\n

\u201cI still have so much life I want to live.\u201d <\/p>\n

New Zealand has one of the highest melanoma rates in the world, with more than 8000 melanomas diagnosed every year. <\/p>\n

Anyone in New Zealand can develop skin cancer, though it is most common in people with the fairest skin types. <\/p>\n

The main risk factor is regular unprotected sun exposure. <\/p>\n

Scott-Davidson urges others to \u201ckeep checking in every way you can\u201d particularly those who have already had a melanoma. <\/p>\n

\u201cBe aware of your body. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019ve had a melanoma and notice anything strange internally or externally, make sure every doctor or health professional knows your history.\u201d <\/p>\n

A quiz night fundraiser is also being held to help Scott-Davidson. <\/p>\n

The event, with raffles, spot prizes, and a silent auction, is being held at Parua Bay pub on July 4 from 6.30pm. <\/p>\n

Check out Facebook for more information. <\/p>\n

Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with finance, roading, and social issues. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cNow they\u2019re saying melanoma cells can stay dormant in your body, and given the right environment they can…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":465892,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[24752,1558,138,380,31787,6440,5821,295,1360,235949,89195,26948,2721,111,139,1067,69,3512,5196,9979,235950,7811,5433,61,2766,1869,102],"class_list":["post-465891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-ago","tag-been","tag-business","tag-decade","tag-doing","tag-ever","tag-everything","tag-fund","tag-having","tag-krystel","tag-lifesaving","tag-melanoma","tag-mum","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-northland","tag-nz","tag-racing","tag-removed","tag-right","tag-scottdavidson","tag-since","tag-stage","tag-to","tag-treatment","tag-whangrei","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}