Tanning beds are the devil!! I just want to tell everyone who has ever gone to a tanning salon or laid in the sun for hours and hours that it is totally NOT worth it! This is the price you pay. I have had several skin cancers removed in the past few years, and it is not a fun experience. 
Mine were basal cell carcinomas, the slow-growing, not so lethal kind, but it is still cancer, and you still need to have them removed, or you could eventually die. 
They have to make a very long incision to make sure they get all the margins, so you end up with a big long ugly scar on your body. I have one on my shoulder, two on my chest, one on my neck and five on my back.
So for all you sun goddesses out there, let me just say, STOP! There is no such thing as a "healthy tan", so if you are spending more than 15 minutes a day in the sun, which is what you need to get your vitamin D, then you are spending too much time, and you will regret it. Please wear sunscreen and don't go to tanning beds. I wouldn't listen to anyone who told me that either, even when I was working in a cancer treatment center! (Can you say moron??) I had to learn from my own experience, but I hope I can convince some people so they don't have to regret it like I do now. Oh, and did I mention the cost? It is very expensive, and my insurance did not cover everything, so I ended up paying in more ways than one. Just repeat after me: "White is beautiful!" Thanks! I will come down from my soap box now......at least for awhile.
8 comments:
Oh linda.. my goodness! I am glad that you had them removed! You are beautiful...and a HOTTIE...even if you are a white white chick!
Amen! I don't know if you saw my blog back in December but I had a similar thing on my shoulder. Also, my mom just had some melenoma removed from her face with a long incision. That's the price of beauty? Not! I LOVED the tanning beds and still miss it. It is just not worth it! Hope you are doing ok!
I hear ya! I've had two removed myself. It's not fun.
OOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWCCCCCHHHH!!!! OUCH!
It doesnt look like its worth it! Why do us white people try to darken our beautiful white skin anyway? Everyone else in this world envys the white race.
Those are such big incisions! I'm sure it's been painful. It looks like you were awake, (maybe a little loopy!), but awake! Eeek! I hope they got it all done now! If only kids of today would learn from our mistakes....but they won't, they will all be saying these same things in 20 years. Good luck with it all!
okay...i just peeked at your blog after forever and i just want to echo and "amen". i have never (hopefully never) had skin cancer and i am so crazy about sunscreen. it totally bugs me when i hear my friends just baking in the bed and sun. seriously? i love white....but heck...those jergens tanning lotions are fab!
ps...i am a worry wart and thing everything is cancer...how did you know of the parts of your skin were cancer?
It mostly will look like a red or white patch of skin that is kinda like a sore that won't heal. It will just keep getting bigger and bigger. But I had to go have it biopsied to know for sure, and that is the only way to really know.
Wow! Quite the pictures! I'll stick with my sunless tanning lotion, I guess.
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