Thank you for continuing to spread the word about tanning beds. Through a good friend, I met her husband\'s younger sister that at 21 was a complete tan-aholic. We (my friend and I) are both incredibly pale, and we were discussing people who used tanning beds because they thought they were safe. Some time later at a bbq, I met her sister-in-law who had just finished chemo and was about to start radiation. At 20, she had been diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes and liver. She was a prolific tanner who went every day. Because some salons limit the number of times you could go in a week, she was a member at several in order to get around this rule. Shortly after getting married, she discovered she was pregnant. During a ob/gyn visit, her doctor noticed a mole on her leg that didn\'t look right. She had it removed and tested and it came back as melanoma. Imaging showed how far the cancer had spread. She had to then choose between getting treatment so she could survive, or keeping the baby and letting the cancer reach a point where she would likely not survive treatment. I have never seen someone so young (I am in my 30\'s) so scarred - physically and mentally. She had to have multiple moles and spots removed that were malignant, and has to return to her dermatologist every three months for skin checks. She continues to have new malignant spots and moles grow several years after her original diagnosis. Her and her husband finally had a little girl after her oncologist cleared her to try again for children. She now uses sunscreen every day. It goes on in the morning just like lotion and she reapplies often. I joked with her about the number of bottles I found around her house, and she said \"you should look in my car\". She is a lot paler than before, and she is okay with that. She regrets not listening to people who told her about tanning, and really tries to spread the word as a living example. One point she tries to get across is that not all malignant moles and spots fit the typical profile. Many of hers looked completely normal - no change in size, color, symmetry, or shape - not something that would trigger a doctor to be concerned. Because of my fair skin and several bad burns when I was younger (baby oil and a blanket anyone??), she urged me to get checked. With my proclivity to burn, I stay out of the sun, use sunscreen and don\'t have any odd looking moles or spots, which my doctor told me I didn\'t have to worry about. He \"humored me\" and took one off my ear, one off my elbow and one off my back. All three came back pre-cancerous. Needless to say he was surprised. Several more (including large freckles) were removed, and about a third of the samples again showed pre-cancerous. I now have to get checked twice a year and have two or three spots removed and tested. At least once a year one or two of them come back pre-cancerous. I now know that suspicious moles and spots don\'t necessarily fit neatly into the ABCDE profile that is widely published for people to refer to. Anyone who has had at least one bad burn needs to get checked by a doctor or dermatologist. Even a spot of skin that seems dry and flaky that doesn\'t get better with lotion needs to be checked as this can also be a symptom of skin cancer. I would much rather live with the scars than die of cancer.

by radar626 Monday, August 3, 2009 at 12:47PM Report as inappropriate