Day 67 - Passed Out Ounces of Skin Cancer Prevention

There are more than 3.5 million new cases of skin cancer diagnosed and 2.2 million people treated in the U.S. each year.  For today's random act of kindness the girls and I passed out sunscreen to raise awareness for skin cancer.  This would typically be a summer act but I think it's so important that people be reminded of their skin care year-round.

A couple of weeks ago I visited all my physicians and completed my annual check-ups.  One of those visited was a dermatologist (my first visit ever).  After a full body screening I had a questionable mole scrapped for a biopsy.  Moles that are biopsied and come back atypical are then rated by severity...mild, moderate and severe.  Atypical moles that are determined to be severe have the highest chance for melanoma transformation. Melanoma being the deadliest of all skin cancers.

After a grueling 10 day wait I was informed that my mole was severely atypical.  The nurse I spoke with later referred to it as a pre-cancerous melanoma.  Irregularity of the cells simply on the surface of the skin but nothing that had penetrated any deeper. After dealing with the initial fear I started kicking myself for the years and years of damage to my skin I had inflicted upon myself.  Sun worshiper to the core from my pre-teens on, tanning beds, lack of regard for sunscreen most of the time and the list goes on and on.  To add to my personal choices, when looking up risk factors for skin cancer my complexion is right up there as #1 or #2 on most lists:

Fair complexion, blond or red hair, freckles, blue or green eyes and/or a tendency to sunburn 

For years my mom (and others) warned me about the ill effects of my poor choices but I was in my teens and early twenties and we all know how well children listen at that age.  Now I am paying the price ten fold for not following the advice of others.

So yesterday I had my mole surgically excised and when I return to have the stitches removed I will have 2 additional moles biopsied and some sun damage on my face treated.  After everything is taken care of I will have to follow up with the dermatologist every 6 months for screenings to pro-actively catch and remove any changing or newly appearing moles.  And not just for the next couple of years...for the rest of my life.  That's a pretty hefty price to pay for a little fun in the sun.

Luckily, they caught it very early on and it shouldn't be anything that causes much of a threat.  It did make me re-evaluate how I live my life and the steps needed to ensure I am protecting my skin.  What's most scary is to think of what could have happened had I not gone to get screened and if it had not been flagged early.  So I urge everyone to "Get to Know Your Moles"!!  If anything changes in their color, size, border or overall appearance please get them checked as soon as possible and schedule those yearly skin cancer screenings.  Early prevention of melanoma and other skin cancers is the key and please, please, please wear your sunscreen!!  Not just in the summer time but all year round.  An ounce of prevention is worth pounds of cure!

Day 67 - Passed out ounces and ounces of prevention

Please choose your sunscreen over this...

 (I debated sharing a personal picture but honestly I would have never thought removing an itty bitty mole would require such a large incision so felt inclined to share it to help with awareness.  Please protect your skin.)