People just won’t listen and melanoma or skin cancer starts when we are young by not protecting our skin. Start protecting your skin in childhood and educate your children. People think they look good with a tan, but they don’t stop to think of the damage done, and having skin like leather is never a good look, it ages your face also.
The driving sun tan is a big issue too; people that have their elbow on the open windows of their car or truck are a high risk group. This happened to my husband and what he thought was eczema was melanoma and I kept telling him it’s not eczema, my intuition was right. Our doctor at the time also thought it was eczema at first but as the “eczema “ got worse he gave my husband a referral to a skin specialist. Over the space of two or three years the melanoma got bigger and bigger; it also had a rough texture and obviously no amount of eczema cream would stop the skin cancer from getting bigger and bigger.
At first glance the surgeon said it looked like eczema but she knew from his medical records and skin puncture test that it was melanoma. The doctor said she had never seen such an unusual looking case of melanoma. On the way into surgery the surgeon asked the surgical team if they knew what was wrong with my husband’s arm. They all thought it was eczema until she told them it was actually melanoma stage one in situ.
My husband ended up with a 9 cm X 7 cm scar that looks like a shark bit him as it is a deep indent. My husband like myself has always avoided the sun, we are winter people so not fans of summer. So he actually got this from driving
People must take responsibility for their actions and not put their health in danger and then expect the doctors to heal them. Sometimes it’s too late for medical help. Melanoma can b anywhere on your body and the skin specialist will examine your entire body fro melanoma even between your fingers and toes as it can be there too. A lymph map of your body is also done before and after to check that there isn’t any more melanoma. There is a follow up lymph mapping done at twelve months after surgery and depending on your health you may require follow up visits to the specialist.
Get your skin checked regularly and hopefully if there is anything nasty growing, you are on top of it and can lessen the damage. Cover your skin in the sun and wear a sun hat or do as many ladies are doing again carry a parasol or an umbrella that has that silver anti UV lining. They are in supermarkets these days and any shop that sells umbrellas. Keep a fold up one in your car too in case you are broken down and waiting for assistance. I always keep a fold up UV umbrella in the car for that reason having had the need after an accident and a breakdown on an interstate highway. There is nothing worse in a hot day when disaster strikes and you need shelter from the scorching sun. Oh and don’t make the mistake of thinking the winter sun in Australia is safe, it’s not.
