I wish there was a way I could be sure that everyone on this site would read this. I know that when you're young it's easy to feel invincible, or at least to think you have plenty of time to worry about the future. The truth is that time goes more quickly than you think, and while many talk about "dying young and leaving a good looking corpse", when faced with the reality, most of us want to stick around.
I had five skin cancers removed three weeks ago, two of which had to be biopsied. I found out this past Thursday that one was a melanoma. I have to go back Monday morning to have a larger area cut out, and pray that no cancer cells have managed to enter my bloodstream.
Today is my birthday...and I'm thinking about melanoma.
It's not my first rodeo. I had my first skin cancer at 29 years of age. I couldn't count how many I have had since, most of which were not potentially deadly, but who wants to have things cut, burnt, or frozen off their head, face, arms, and back on a regular basis. I had one very serious sunburn as a child, and this is enough to have doubled my chances at the deadly melanoma. Around ten years ago I had one removed from my back that was smaller than a pencil eraser. They cut around that one three times before they found no more cancer cells around the edges.
The American Cancer Society says this:
The American Cancer Society’s estimates for melanoma in the United States for 2018 are:
- --About 91,270 new melanomas will be diagnosed (about 55,150 in men and 36,120 in women).
- --About 9,320 people are expected to die of melanoma (about 5,990 men and 3,330 women).
--The rates of melanoma have been rising for the last 30 years.
So it's with love that I say if you are intentionally exposing yourself to the radiation of the sun, or using those unregulated tanning beds, then you are literally aging yourself unnecessarily, and risking your life. I say again...RISKING YOUR LIFE.
Roger Daltrey sang the words to the huge hit "My Generation" in 1965 (before my time) that said "I hope I die before I get old." He's 74 now, still rocking, and quite glad to be alive.
Please take care of your beautiful selves. And use sunscreen...
