Devastated mom-of-two shares her horror at being diagnosed with melanoma - just four months after her six-year-old daughter completed chemotherapy for kidney cancer 

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A mother-of-two has told of her horror after she was diagnosed with skin cancer - less than four months after her daughter’s last chemotherapy treatment. 

AJ Brown, 45, said she thought her family was 'done' with cancer after her six-year-old daughter Finley was diagnosed with kidney cancer in June and completed her treatment in December.

The associate business director, who lives in Moraga, California, with her husband Aaron, Finlely and their son Cooper, told Today.com she was left feeling 'mad and scared and upset' when, a few weeks ago, she was diagnosed with melanoma, the most dangerous type of skin cancer.

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Close: AJ Brown, 45, pictured left, thought her family was 'done' with cancer after her six-year-old daughter Finley, pictured right, was treated for kidney cancer

Double: Just four months after Finley, pictured left with her brother Cooper, right, completed her treatment in December, AJ was diagnosed with skin cancer

Reaction: The mother-of-two, whose daughter Finley is pictured, right, and associate business director said at first she was 'mad and scared and upset'

She said initially she could not compute the news, saying: 'I thought, we're done - my family has had its share.'

After a couple of days she came to the realization that she was 'fine' with being diagnosed with cancer - as long as it was not either of her children.  

She said: 'You can't spend every day for months when your daughter is sick, praying to God, please let it be me, please let it be me, and then be p****d when it's you and not her.

'So I let go of the being mad part and realized, it's me, that's fine. As long as I don't have to watch my kids go through this.'

AJ, who works at California Academy of Performing Arts, was at the dermatologist when she spotted a poster on the wall warning of the dangers of potentially cancerous moles and asked the doctor to look at one on her right thigh.

It was removed and sent away to be tested and days later she was told the bad news. 

'A few days later, she called me and said, "Oh honey, are you sitting down?"' she said. 

'And she said, "I hate to tell you this because I know what you just went through with your little girl, but it's melanoma and we're going to have to have you in for surgery."'

After Finley's last chemotherapy treatment she was awarded the opportunity to ride in a fire truck to hospital as a celebration and since then her mother said she has been 'an absolute miracle'. 

Thankful: But now, AJ, who had the cancer successfully removed from her thigh last week, said she is grateful it is her and not her Finley, pictured, or Cooper

Support: AJ, pictured with her husband Aaron, right, and Finley, center, said although she would not 'choose' it, she is 'grateful' for her pain

Kind: She said Finley, pictured, has been helping to care for her mother - offering to get her medicine and cold washcloths

AJ said her daughter's treatment has given her 'superpowers'. She said just one week after her treatments stopped, she insisted on starting kindergarten and signing up for dance classes, soccer and Girl Scouts. 

She said having been ill herself, Finley knows how to help care for others. AJ said she asks her how she is feeling and offers to get her medicine and cold washcloths. 

Last week, AJ's doctor successfully removed the cancer from her thigh which she said has left her with a 'battle scar'.

She said: 'I'm totally cool with that. I match Finley now.'

AJ has been documenting her family's experiences with cancer in letters addressed 'Dear cancer' on Facebook. 

In her latest post she wrote that while a year ago she 'might have felt sorry for myself' for the pain she now has in her leg following surgery, she has found that she is now 'much more philosophical'.

She wrote: 'I wouldn't choose it, of course, but oh my gosh, it's so much easier to go through it myself than to have to watch one of my children go through it... 

'I have so much to be grateful for that I'm oddly even grateful for the physical pain...Had we not caught the cancer when we did, that might not be the case. 

'Melanoma spreads fast. I suppose I could have lost the leg. Or my life, for that matter. But, we did, and I didn't, so yay, I have a leg that is healing.'