Today I’m sharing something that’s not mine… I’m hoping that you’ll click the link below to a video that I ran across today on the internet.
Three years ago I went to the dermatologist for a spot on my arm that I thought was a bug bite – turns out the dermatologist did too – though in the end it turned out to be a hemiangioma – which is not dangerous.
But in the routine exam that followed they found a small freckle on my thigh that I’d paid no attention to. It was small… and it did not look weird to me.
And that one turned out to be melanoma.
I was lucky. At least so far…
Mine was a melanoma in-situ which means it had not spread. And after a short out-patient surgery they removed the freckle and the surrounding tissue leaving only a very ugly and noticeable scar. But I know that my body has done this once… it can happen again – with any number of the freckles already here or those to come. I live in fear… and I live with regret for all the marching band rehearsals and summer visits to the pool when I did not wear sunscreen… all the years and years that I allowed myself to burn thinking it was no big deal. I was never one in search of a tan… but I didn’t fear a sunburn. I did not “lay-out” and I wasn’t a beach kid… but I was a baton twirler and was in the marching band so I was outside all summer long. With my fair skin I thought sunburns were just par for the course. And back when I was a child people didn’t really wear sunscreen.
Click the link below please and share it with your students, friends, children:
Trust me… a tan is not worth it… And if you’re a guard coach please teach your students to use sunscreen… take along extra cans to camp… provide reminders. It’s more important than you may realize.
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