In this episode Charlotte & Greg talk to Chiara, a young Italian woman who has been fighting advanced melanoma for the past couple of years. 

Chiara was only 33 and recently married when she noticed her mole was bleeding, something that advanced more quickly than anyone could have expected. She was diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma with multiple mitosis.

The cancer was already 3cm deep and spreading fast. She was immediately put through powerful treatment, which triggered multiple organ failures, but she stayed strong and positive and got through her treatment.

They found out that Chiara's skin cancer was nothing to do with the sun but a mutated gene. Prevention would have saved her a lot of pain and sorrow, so she hopes that in the future everyone will be genetically tested to help prevent diseases like hers from occuring unnoticed in the first place.

Sadly, one of the consequences of the treatment is its impact on fertility. Despite having just married and wanting a large family, she can't even consider pregnancy until 5 years into her treatment. She also opted to undergo fertility treatment, just in case, so underwent IVF to freeze her eggs for the future, something that  is thankfully included by the public healthcare service in Italy.

Chiara hasn't given up on the hope of having a big family one day or let the cancer slow her down. Now she is over the worst of it, she wants to share her story and extremely positive outlook to help raise awareness. She went through hell and back but is still smiling and wants everyone to know not to give up, you can get through it, no matter what!

Chiara and her husband Andrea have a company and  YouTube channel  called Mode Zero! they host creatives and support underground creative music in their beautiful home in Conegliano Italy and livestream music. They also discuss Chiara's cancer journey on the channel: https://youtube.com/c/ModeZeroOfficial Please like, share and subscribe to show your support!

It's breast cancer awareness month and Charlotte & Greg are walking 100 miles for Cancer Research and Breast Cancer Now. Full podcast videos and donation links  https://linktr.ee/thecancertwins