Don't laugh at the sun

[Randy1]

I would post a picture of the big nasty hole in my joystick arm but hopefully you will take my word it is a mistake to laugh at the sun.  Stack two buffalo nickles on top of each other and that is about the size and depth of the tissue they removed from my arm to eradicate a cancer that was smaller than a pea to the touch.

I think a little common sense on my part would have prevented this. 

I hope you might read this and use a bit more caution come summer time.

[Drano]

Sucks but glad to hear you picked it up early. Melanoma is some deadly stuff. I lost an uncle to it last year. He let it go too long and it got him. I did a round with it a few years back and it looked like they took a melon baller to my face. Could have put a pair of 50 cent pieces in the hole. Post surgery pics were pretty gruesome. Thankfully they put humpty dumpty back together again. Needless to say me and the Sun are no longer BFFs.

[Karnak]

My dad beat melanoma back in the mid 1980s.  I don't spend much time out in the sun and I do use sunscreen.

[gyrene81]

i spent a lot of summers in the sun without sunscreen or even a shirt in some cases...been very lucky, last few times i got checked came back negative.

[Randy1]

This is a Squamous cell carcinoma which has a very high cure rate when treated in a timely manor so it is not a life threat when caught early.  I think it is the second most common skin cancer.  You just get a big hunk cut out.

My message is one of caution.  Take care of your skin and watch for early signs. 

[Drano]

Yeah that's great news actually. Mine was of the malignant melanoma killer variety. Mine didn't look like much. I thought it was a freckle that was fading away so I didn't pay much attention to it. Not like I spend hours looking at myself in the mirror. I went to see my Doc not because of that but because my allergies were crushing me that spring. She asks--so how long has that spot been on your face? I said--this? That's my Robert Deniro thing--you talkin to me? She said that's funny but you're gettin that checked out. Glad I did because the dermatology docs told me it's something that if I'd let go in another year we'd be having a very different conversation. It kills people that were about to do what I was about to do which was blow it off. That's what my uncle did. Got him in about a year. They used terms like "very agressive", "slippery slope" and "difficult to erradicate once it's established". All I needed to hear. Get it off me!

[Slate]

   My wife had Basil cell Melanoma and like you said was small on the surface but spiders out under skin. She is good now but is very careful out in the sun. She went in to the doctor for something on her forehead which was nothing but after a good exam of the rest of her they found the Melanoma on the back of her leg.
   Get checked out and especially if you notice something new or of a weird shape.

    Glad to hear you're OK Randy   

[Ripsnort]

Sun screen is not the magic bullet.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/27/the-new-rules-for-sunscreen/
It has more to do with heritary nature of cancer in your family genes.
You have a better chance of getting Mel if its in your familie's genetics from small amounts of exposure than if you have a clean family history and lots of sun exposure.

[doright]

Slip! Slop! Slap!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGgn5nwYtj0#t=10

A cousin of mine is a surgeon in Australia. He said that they will frequently find unremarked tumors while operating for other conditions. They will immediately search the patient's skin for melanomas that may have metastasized. A common area is the scalp where the hair makes finding a skin cancer difficult.

[guncrasher]

now that you are staying where the sun dont shine, make sure you get that checked out too.  I had mine done a few weeks ago and got two pre cancerous polyps removed.


semp