Caution! Melanoma Widow Ranting Ahead!

In my quest to educate others about melanoma, I find myself focusing mostly on wearing sunscreen, being aware of outdoor conditions (a lot of people get bad sunburns simply because they weren't adequately prepared, not because they don't know better), and skin checks. I rarely delve into the world of fake baking (pardon the pun). I mean I have to laugh (remember I fake baked too because I think I look better tan). But it is comical that we actually call it baking. There is a tanning salon out there called Tan Your Hide (as in leather?). They aren't hiding anything from you. The information is there. Hopefully you are smart enough not to fall for the winter blues ad campaign to keep tanning salons going all winter, or even the vitamin D deficiency excuse.

The other day I was doing some Easter shopping. I seem to really enjoy quiet time alone like that. It gives my mind the chance to wonder, the chance to focus, the chance to relax. I was quite distracted by the massive number of "fake bakers" out there. The weather was nice, and they were out shopping in full force. They stood in the aisle with me, picking out candy for their kids, oblivious to the fact that my child no longer has a daddy here on earth because of this deadly disease. But hey, the tan looked good. And at least they will glow when swimsuit season starts. It is totally worth it, completely. And even more comical, they pay...PAY...to have their hides tanned to looked so good.

Hopefully if you are one of these people, you are doing monthly skin checks, because if you are reading this blog and you are tanning, you have completely missed my gut-wrenching, heartbreaking story, and there is no way I can save you any other way but to hope you check yourself.

Or maybe you think it won't happen to you. Just think for a second, one person you know who has or has had cancer. Weren't you surprised it was them? Maybe it was a parent, aunt or uncle, cousin, child, friend...even so, you were a bit surprised it was them. And aside from the givens like colon, breast and lung cancer, there's a fairly high chance that any other types of cancer, you had barely heard of...all the sarcomas and blastomas and carcinomas and other omas...melanoma. Now think of all the people you know who are sick right now. How many of them have CANCER? Yep, if you are like me, the majority of them are battling some form of the dreaded C word.

I've been there. It was us. It is us, we still have melanoma in a way because melanoma will affect our lives forever. We are done (God willing) fighting melanoma physically, but I'll fight it every other way I can until the day I die.

Because it DID happen to us.

It CAN happen to you.

Do you do a self-breast exam? or maybe a screening for testicular cancer if you're a guy? How about monitoring your blood pressure? Would you go to the doctor immediately if you saw blood in your stool...or were coughing up a bunch of bloody mucus...or had blurred vision...or other crazy symptoms?

God, I hope so. You probably would. You would definitely tell anyone you love who told you about these symptoms to go. You would worry.

Will it be me?

But yet, people are willing to walk in and PAY to fake bake so they look good.

I want you to live. Think it over....