Melanoma Awareness Month - Beyond Tiki

M MadDogMike Grand Member (8 years) The Anvil of the Sun Joined: Mar 30, 2008 Posts: 10872	M MadDogMike Posted posted on Fri, May 15, 2009 12:40 PM So it turns out that "healthy tan" is an oxymoron. May is Melanoma Awareness Month and someone close to me is battling melanoma. It started as a mole, spread to the lymph nodes and then to the brain. Treatment has been rough - surgery, gamma knife radiation, 30 rounds of IV chemotherapy and bottles of chemo pills, but God is good and we are hopeful. Fortunately for you, prevention is much easier than treatment. Use sunscreen and make sure your kids use it too. They say that the few blistering sunburns you get as a kid are as likely to cause melanoma as moderate long-term exposure. Get checked by a dermatologist frequently, especially if you have moles. If you do find skin melanoma, treat it aggressively from the start! OK, I'll get off my soapbox now :) [ Edited by: MadDogMike 2010-05-01 07:15 ]

So it turns out that "healthy tan" is an oxymoron. May is Melanoma Awareness Month and someone close to me is battling melanoma. It started as a mole, spread to the lymph nodes and then to the brain. Treatment has been rough - surgery, gamma knife radiation, 30 rounds of IV chemotherapy and bottles of chemo pills, but God is good and we are hopeful.

Fortunately for you, prevention is much easier than treatment. Use sunscreen and make sure your kids use it too. They say that the few blistering sunburns you get as a kid are as likely to cause melanoma as moderate long-term exposure. Get checked by a dermatologist frequently, especially if you have moles. If you do find skin melanoma, treat it aggressively from the start! OK, I'll get off my soapbox now :)

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2010-05-01 07:15 ]

Post #454193 by MadDogMike on Fri, May 15, 2009 12:40 PM