A Life-Changing Diagnosis - How Melanoma Inspired SkinBit's Mission

In August 2020, at my wife's suggestion, I scheduled what I thought would be a routine dermatology appointment. As someone with eczema-prone skin, I've always been hesitant about seeing dermatologists. Any scarring from biopsies creates more probable spots for eczema flares, so I avoid them when possible.

After waiting four months for an appointment, I finally saw a dermatologist in Menlo Park. The examination seemed fairly standard—she checked my skin with a dermatoscope and, finding nothing concerning, asked me to dress back up. I was literally about to walk out the door when she suddenly remembered something.

"Can I check under your mask?" she asked.

This split-second decision—this almost missed examination—would change everything. Had I left thirty seconds earlier, my story might have ended very differently. She spent more time examining my nose and eventually decided to do a shave biopsy of a mole on my left nostril. She reassured me she wasn't worried, just being cautious, and that I'd have results within a week or two.

Two weeks passed. I called for my results, but she wasn't available. When she finally called back, she shared something concerning—the results didn't make sense, and she had asked for a second opinion. Another two weeks of waiting followed.

Then, the day after my 40th birthday, I received a call that lasted less than a minute but changed the course of my life. She informed me I had Melanoma. She asked whether I preferred to be referred to Stanford or UCSF, mentioned the skin cancer clinic would contact me within two weeks, and ended by saying this form of cancer was treatable.

I was stunned into silence. With no established medical relationships or primary care physician to guide me, I turned to Google. What I learned was sobering: Melanoma is the most aggressive form of skin cancer, with 8,000 deaths from 200,000 cases annually in the US. People with Melanoma have a nine-fold higher risk of developing another skin cancer. The depth of the lesion was the critical factor in determining the cancer stage and whether it had spread.

This moment—this brief, impersonal call delivering life-altering news—was my first glimpse into a system that seemed designed around efficiency rather than patient welfare. I didn't know it yet, but this experience would eventually birth a mission to transform how skin cancer is detected, diagnosed, and managed for millions of others.

What struck me most, reflecting on that day, was how subjective and fallible the entire process had been. Had the doctor not remembered to check under my mask in that final moment, had she not taken that extra step, my cancer might have progressed undetected for months or years. The thin line between early detection and missed diagnosis became painfully clear to me—a realization that would eventually fuel my determination to create something better.