Skin Cancer

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Les Hall

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Having just returned from a dermatologist with three new holes in my body, I figured it's time for our annual skin cancer warning. Having spent my youth in the sun, mostly sailing class boats, I'm paying for that now. Of course, back then, sun tan lotion was used to prevent a sun burn with no concern for long term affects.

The article I will reference was written for us by Dr. Charles Griff, a dermatologist in West Palm Beach who probably saved my life by discovering a melanoma just above my hair line, nicely hidden. Please read the article and take heed. We need you all around for a while.

http://www.boatered.com/skin.htm
 
Excellent reminder/post, Les. I spent the day at the beach today wearing sunscreen and sitting under an umbrella. It's actually much more comfortable (and safer) sitting in the shade.
 
Thanks Les. I did the same and now I use tons of sunscreen and I too sit under an umbrella at the beach and see the dermatologist annually.

My eye specialists also attribute my eye issues to possible over exposure to UV rays as well. Cateracts and a retinal tear before age 55.
 
It's frightening how many people our age are dealing with cancers of the skin and elsewhere. Do you remember, as a kid, being told to "hurry up and get your first sunburn so your skin will peel and you'll be protected from the sun for the rest of the summer"? We really believed that nonsense. My older brother nearly died from skin cancer, having to have a strip of skin 3" wide down half of his back removed, living with 'artificial skin' for weeks until his back healed. Scarey stuff. Glad you're OK, Les. Let's all stay protected this season. Hy
 
Great Post Les to remind us of the sun exposure hazard.
Finally found a benefit of no hairline
 
Lost my Dad to Melanoma.
My Mom has had Basal Cells removed.
Yes, I am at risk and try hard to stay out of the sun.

Thanks for the heads up!
Time to ask to go to dermatologist for a checkup again!
 
As the good Doctor says, skin cancer can be treated quickly and with minimum impact if caught early. When Dr. Griff discovered my melanoma, he simply whipped out his swiss army knife and dug it out. No follow up treatment required for it. He did have me on a short leash requiring check ups every six months.

Most parents today use sunscreen with a SPF of like 5 million so hopefully the incidences of skin cancer will decrease in the future. But for all of us who are already grown up or are supposed to be, it's time to pay the piper. Luckily, all the piper is demanding is a regular visit to a good dermatologist.
 
If any thread deserves to be a sticky on ATC, this would be the ONE.
 
Thanks, Les, and I pray wellness and blessed freedom from recurrences on all of you. Me too, a Fellow Six Month Followup Guy... The word "cancer" is bad enough, worse when it's said with a Personal Pronoun.
 
Thanks, jd, but I'm just fine. At this point, I'm on a four month schedule with the dermatologist. The folks we need to worry about are those who grew up without playstations and tablets. Folks who actually spent their early lives outside, playing baseball, boating and spending days at the beach but are not yet aware of the potential damage they may have done. The insidious part of these cancers is that they lie dormant for years and then decide to erupt like dandelions on a green lawn. While Caucasians are the most susceptible, everyone can be afflicted. Bob Marley died of melanoma at the age of 36.
 
Just finished reading this article so thought I'd share it. Our taxes at work:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — With more than 2 million cases of skin cancer diagnosed each year, U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., announced that she is cosponsoring the Sunscreen Innovation Act — bipartisan legislation that aims to streamline the approval process to bring safe and effective sunscreens to consumers as quickly as possible.

The bill seeks to break a logjam at the Food and Drug Administration, where some sunscreen ingredients that are widely used in foreign markets have been stuck in the approval process for 12 years.

“The fight against skin cancer starts with using the best available sunscreen, and this bipartisan legislation will help ensure that Americans have access to the highest quality sunscreen products,” said Ayotte. “As we observe national Melanoma Awareness Month, Congress should take up and pass this commonsense bill right away. There’s no reason why bureaucratic federal regulations should prevent safe and effective products from reaching the marketplace.”

Ingredients in over-the-counter sunscreens must be approved by the FDA, which hasn’t added to its list of approved sunscreen ingredients since 1999 — even though sunscreen with new ingredients has been available in foreign markets including Europe, Canada, Asia and South America for 15 years.

The Sunscreen Innovation Act aims to ensure that sunscreen ingredients going through the FDA approval process receive a transparent review within a predictable timeframe — 11 months or less, depending on whether it is a new or existing submission. As it stands now, there is no mandatory timeline for this process.

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20140508/NEWS06/140509047
 
We used to put baby oil on when I was in college. Now it looks like I was shot with a gun where I have a couple scars from the removal of basal cell skin cancer.

Always good to be reminded because I still seem to get caught out in the sun without sunscreen every once in a while when I'm at the marina.
 
At this point, many of us, myself included, could bath in sunscreen twice a day and it would make no difference. The damage was done many years ago. While yes, we should continue to use sunscreen, just as important is a periodic visit to a dermatologist. This from the American Academy of Dermatology:

People who are more likely to get skin cancer:

Spend a lot of time in the sun.
Use tanning beds or sun lamps.
Live (or once lived) in an area that gets intense sunlight, such as Florida, the Caribbean, or northern Australia.

If this exposure was years ago, a person still has an increased risk. Even if the exposure did not last long, such as lying out for a few summers, there is a greater risk.

http://www.aad.org/dermatology-a-to-z/diseases-and-treatments/q---t/skin-cancer/who-gets-causes
 
About 50 years to late Les. Peeling the skin from our shoulders was a yearly summer routine for me and almost all my friends when I was kid. Later when I was a clam digger on the Great South Bay off LI in the 70's I would wear long sleeve shirts and a hat often but still managed to get a good burn many times. I am pretty careful these days and try to minimize the exposure but I am still apt to burn a couple of times a summer for being lazy or forgetful, especially this time of year when the warm weather and sun are getting me outside again. I do worry about my skin but being in the sun is something of an addiction.
 
Roger the too late part. At least you got clams out of the deal. But God invented dermatologists who love to cut us, scrape us, burn us and freeze us so we'll be around to watch the next Bellator MMA tournament. Just gotta get off our butts to go see one. If the rest of the country is like NH and FL, it takes six months or so to get a first appointment.
 
Found it last year on my nose. 2 surgeries and 6 weeks radiation and the finally think they got it. My nose will never look the same tho.
 
I heard the first burn deal also , I remember as a kid my girlfriend liked to peel the flaking skin off my back
 
Very nice and timely post. This is one of the consequences of life that affects us all, but is so easily treated if detected in a timely manor.

I was in for a "full body" exam about 6 months ago . . . laying there, exposing everything that God gave me, (or didn't give me), when the Dr. came in and asked me if it would be alright if 2 young students observed the exam, as they were interning from their school.

Next, two very young and very pretty ladies entered the room in their surgical wear.

I no longer have a dignity issue.
 
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