Ladies take care of your skin!

[TMarie]

I went to the dermatologist for the first time a few weeks ago. My mom has a history of basil cell skin cancer, and i wanted to have my own moles looked at. I was really only concerned with one on my face (its a vanity thing) and was surprised when the Doctor decided to remove two from my back. I went in today to get the biopsy results and get my stitches out and was told that i have precancerous melanoma. Every 6 months for the rest of my life I have to go to the dermatologist to have a mole check and have any suspicious ones removed. Left untreated, a melanoma growth can kill you within a year.

 

What a wake up call!

 

My dermatologist told me that tanning = cancer. tanning is really just exposing your skin to UV rays that cause the melocytes in your epidermis to produce more rapidly causing the change in skin color.

He said our skin should not tan at all and we should reapply SPF of 30 or higher every hour despite what the bottle says! The companies that sell the sunblock are only trying to keep you from being burned, but it doesnt take a burn for you to get skin cancer. Most people who have skin cancer cant recall getting sunburned.

 

I personally have been burned, but no more than a hand full of times, and only once severely. I am also guilty of using a tanning bed right before going on vacation. I thought i was doing the right thing by getting a base tan to avoid burning in the tropics...

 

According to my dermatologist EVERYONE should get a full body mole check every year. Ladies make your appointments today!

[banditcat]

I am so glad that you caught this in the early stages. Good advice. The doctors do encourage all of us to do this skin mapping every year. This is a great reminder that will help us all.

 

Hannah

[C-Ked]

Thank you for posting this. My heart just sinks every time I see someone post on this board asking for recommendations for tanning beds, etc. -- I want to jump in and yell, "Don't do it! Tanning beds are death traps!" But I've refrained in the past, for fear of being seen as a troll/spoilsport on those threads...

 

I very much appreciate you sharing your experience with us. And I'm so glad they caught the precancerous melanoma in time for you! I hope this thread will help prevent other women from discounting the dangers of sun exposure.

 

I don't want to sound preachy -- Lord knows I love the sun just as much as anybody else. It's just that it's so important to be smart in enjoying sun-filled vacations. So thanks again for posting this!

[Nitra]

I have no moles but am religious about the sunscreen thing. I put no less than 30 on my face and on a cruise use 45 and wear a visor or hat. I use 30 on my body. I get the spray on sport kind that is water/sweat proof. I still tan but maybe not as dark as I used to. Just a healthy glow.

 

My aunt has had skin cancer a few times and still does not use sunscreen! She is in real estate and is outside a lot, and she is in her 70s but has not learned yet.

[Nitra]

I am so against the tanning bed thing. I have friends that insist on using them but I will not go there. I will stay pasty white.

 

Even when I work on my tan, I work up, starting out with about 30 min and usually end up no more than about 2 hrs or so. I dont want my skin to look old and leathery!

[momofmeg]

Thank you for posting this. My heart just sinks every time I see someone post on this board asking for recommendations for tanning beds, etc. -- I want to jump in and yell, "Don't do it! Tanning beds are death traps!" But I've refrained in the past, for fear of being seen as a troll/spoilsport on those threads...

 

I very much appreciate you sharing your experience with us. And I'm so glad they caught the precancerous melanoma in time for you! I hope this thread will help prevent other women from discounting the dangers of sun exposure.

 

I don't want to sound preachy -- Lord knows I love the sun just as much as anybody else. It's just that it's so important to be smart in enjoying sun-filled vacations. So thanks again for posting this!

 

I agree with you WHOLEHEARTLY! I am glad I was vain enough at age 31 to stop tanning as I did not like the beginnings of crow's feet!

 

My SIL had a melanoma removed last year. She WAS a sunworshiper but very religiously used sunblock. She has to be checked every 4 months now. Her husband also sold their weekend lake cabin and their motorboat.

 

My husband and her other sibling also have to be checked yearly. Hubby just went last week for his check up and was 5 months overdo as he had last went in Nov. 05.

 

BTW gals/guys a melanoma is very ugly-it is black looking-it almost looks like a bad bruise but ofcourse it is slightly raised like a mole-if you have anything like that on you be sure and have it checked.

[starshine]

TMarie,

 

Thank you for posting this. It is a good reminder to me and others to get our moles checked regularly.

 

You think I wouldn't need reminding as my mother had melanoma and had to have tissue removed from her upper thigh to remove it. She survived that cancer but still had many precancerous moles taken off all her life.

 

I stopped tanning in my early twenties after I experienced a very bad burn...fell asleep on the beach in the California sun my first day of summer and even managed to toast both sides to a lobster red. As the day progressed, my skin got tighter and tighter and more painful until I finally fell into a feverish sleep. The next afternoon, I woke up and my body was swollen everywhere, just full of fluid. It looked like I had gained thirty pounds overnight. Went to a doctor who happened to be Jamaican and he was adamant that I was lucky to be alive.

 

Needless to say, this experience and my mom's health scare cured me from my quest to get a tan. But yet I still get busy and forget to make that yearly appointment to have my moles checked, so thanks for the reminder.

[derf5585]

Ladies take care of your skin!

 

I'm glad that us men don't have to.

[momofmeg]

I'm glad that us men don't have to.

 

Men can get skin cancer also and die from it just like women.

[karen sharpe]

Thanks for your post T Marie I will share it with my DD. She is very fair and loves her visits to the tanning salon . I can't seem to reach her about the changes in the skin caused by these rays and the eventual regret when the aging process begins.

How fortunate you were to find such an observant physician! We are told to have routine checks on our moles if any significant family history but there are not many doctors in Ontario that want to take the time.It is worrisome.:eek:

[ScottCrew]

T. Marie I am so glad that you caught those moles just in time! People take such poor care of their skin and it is our largest organ. I wish everyone would get their skin checked annually (supposed to) and stayed out of those deadly beds.:eek: I have had 2 melanomas and numerous severe atypia. Melanom can appear in MANY forms and anywhere on the body. Just watch for any change in a mole/freckle/etc. (color, shape, size, itchy, bleeding, crusty, etc.). They can even be non-pigmented. Good job warning and reminding T. Marie!!

[ute_fan]

I also have a DD, age 21, who used to enjoy going tanning. Then she got a job working as a medical assistant in a local dermatologist's office. They do skin biopsies on a daily basis for suspected skin cancers -- and now you won't find a more adamant supporter for sunscreen. It didn't take long -- about a week -- after assisting with cancer surgeries for her to realize the importance of keeping the sun off your skin.

 

On the same subject, men are just as susceptible to this one. I recently had a co-worker who lived in Texas die from malignant melanoma. He had a sailboat that he would have out on the gulf of Mexico as often as possible. They discovered the melanoma, and he was gone within about a year. It was not an easy, peaceful way to die.

[kalamari]

Isn't it funny how something that makes you "feel" so healthy is the worst thing you could do!! I shudder looking at some folks here in Fla that look like walking pieces of leather.

 

I got smarter about the sun a few years ago but "relapsed". After two weeks at Ipanema Beach in Rio I came home with a "sudden" freckle on my bottom lip..and the only way they could even biopsy it was to REMOVE a portion of about two inches on my bottom lip! So I had 2 inches gouged out of my lip. and thankfully it turned out to be nothing..but it was scary..and then having to walk around disfigured for a couple months was embarrasing. You can't tell I had the surgery but it made me smarter.

 

 

I also have a DD, age 21, who used to enjoy going tanning. Then she got a job working as a medical assistant in a local dermatologist's office. They do skin biopsies on a daily basis for suspected skin cancers -- and now you won't find a more adamant supporter for sunscreen. It didn't take long -- about a week -- after assisting with cancer surgeries for her to realize the importance of keeping the sun off your skin.

 

On the same subject, men are just as susceptible to this one. I recently had a co-worker who lived in Texas die from malignant melanoma. He had a sailboat that he would have out on the gulf of Mexico as often as possible. They discovered the melanoma, and he was gone within about a year. It was not an easy, peaceful way to die.

[Happy ks]

I cringe every time I read that a tan looks "healthy", it is really your skin crying out for help. I love to lay in the sun, for a short time, with a high SPF, then I cover up or go into the shade. We'll spend hours on deck reading, but not in the direct sunlight.

 

When I was a teen, I was so self-concious (:rolleyes: ) about my body I rarely went into the sun, rarely in a bathing suit at all. I think I should be grateful for my inhibitions now.

 

After reading this, I think I migh tgo in for a check, I do have moles on my back that I can't see.

[Debbers]

Every tan, no matter how attractive and glowing, is a sign of permanent damage to the skin and of increased risk of cancer. End of story. There is no such thing as a base tan to protect your skin. It may prevent a burn, but the damage has been done.

 

I wonder why no one sells hand cream containing SPF? Sometimes my hands are exposed for an hour or more while I am driving if it's too warm for gloves. I do apply a sunscreen when I think of it, but a nice hand cream would be more pleasant.

[TMarie]

I cringe every time I read that a tan looks "healthy", it is really your skin crying out for help. I love to lay in the sun, for a short time, with a high SPF, then I cover up or go into the shade. We'll spend hours on deck reading, but not in the direct sunlight.

 

When I was a teen, I was so self-concious (:rolleyes: ) about my body I rarely went into the sun, rarely in a bathing suit at all. I think I should be grateful for my inhibitions now.

 

After reading this, I think I migh tgo in for a check, I do have moles on my back that I can't see.

 

My moles are also on my back, where i have a hard time seeing except in the mirror.

 

I think its find of funny....I had recently bought some shirts with an open back. I was looking in the mirror and thought that it was very cute, and i thought my moles were like beauty marks and I thought they were beautiful...

 

I have a mole above my upper lip that is similar to marilyn monroes...I have always idolized her. I call it my beauty mark, and upon my first visit to the dermatologist told him it would not be coming off my face until he was certain it was cancer....Its my signature. I cant imagine how i would look without it. But everytime i look in the mirror since the biopsy results I keep putting a finger over it to see how i would look without it...

 

Definitely go for that check!

 

I also cringe every time i read someones post with "healthy glow" i realize now that its more like grilling meat...

[TMarie]

Every tan, no matter how attractive and glowing, is a sign of permanent damage to the skin and of increased risk of cancer. End of story. There is no such thing as a base tan to protect your skin. It may prevent a burn, but the damage has been done.

 

I wonder why no one sells hand cream containing SPF? Sometimes my hands are exposed for an hour or more while I am driving if it's too warm for gloves. I do apply a sunscreen when I think of it, but a nice hand cream would be more pleasant.

 

Mary Kay does. I am sure most department store make up counters sell something similar!