JARRYD Roughead says his life was turned "upside down" after a melanoma scare, but the Hawthorn star hopes to return to football soon.
Roughead had a melanoma removed from his bottom lip last Wednesday, ruling him out of action for at least two-to-three weeks.
The 28-year-old has received positive results from follow-up tests this week, with only one more test to complete before he gets the all clear.
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"The last week's been a little bit full-on, but I've got some good results and some good news. That's the best news we could ask for and now it's just about healing and getting back out there," Roughead told the club's website.
"(Surgery) went well and it's healing, but eating isn't going so well so far. It's just soups and liquid at the moment, soft foods, so there's no steaks or big chicken meals or anything like that at the moment.
"I had some further tests just to make sure that everything's clear and I'm just doing everything right.
"It puts everything into perspective when something like this happens, so obviously the club and myself just wanted to make sure that everything was going right and the tests needed to be done.
"I've still got one more, but everything's been good so far."
Roughead sustained the melanoma despite his history of being cautious covering up from the sun and warned others to get checked.
"If you do notice spots, just make sure you get checked because it turns everything upside down in the space of a week. You've got a full bottom lip one week and you've got a big chunk missing the next," he said.
Roughead, who has a 5-10cm scar running up his mouth, said there was no timeframe locked in for his return yet.
"I don't know yet, obviously we'll just wait on what the doctors say and how this heals," he said.
"Obviously I don't want it to split open again. That's the main thing - as long as I'm comfortable and there's no worries, I'll be out there soon hopefully."
The fourth-placed Hawks have a testing run ahead, facing League leaders Fremantle, the Sydney Swans, plus fellow top-four hopefuls West Coast and Richmond over the next five weeks.
Roughead was in stellar form before he was sidelined, racking up 29 touches and booting a goal playing a new role up the ground in a win over Essendon.
He returned to modified training on Monday and will work out a training plan over the coming days.
Roughead said he has been overwhelmed by the support from the AFL community.
"The amount of text messages and messages over social media from obviously the Hawthorn family but also the whole AFL community," he said.
"Some of the text messages put a smile on your face, and that's what gets you through."
