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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 575
 
| Just a friendly reminder I've felt the need to remind all my buddies of on all of social media.
Please please please wear your sunscreen!
And even a wide brimmed hat while out in the sun. At 27 I've just had to have a good portion of the back of my ear removed due to melanoma. Luckily I've got a great team of doctors and they're working on being able to reconstruct it, but I know it's something we tend to forget a lot of the time. I've had multiple basil and squamous cell spots removed, but this one was definitely the most serious. Thank the Lord that my doctors insist on full body checks every 6 months. They caught it before it went too deep into the tissue and I had to have even more of the ear removed.
I was always super good about wearing a baseball cap outside, but would pull my hair to the side, leaving my right ear exposed. Wearing a cowboy hat made me super self conscious, but it would definitely have been better than getting sliced up.
No pity party here. It's looking like they got it all and I should be just fine. But as something that could be preventable I want to try to make sure no one else has to go through this if they don't have to! |
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
 
| Glad you went in regularly! Great reminder for all of us |
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 Expert
Posts: 1395
Location: Missouri | That's really scary...I'm glad it sounds like they got it all and you'll be a-ok.
But, yes. I good reminder for all of us. I'm terrible about wearing sunscreen. I do see a derm once a year for a mole check.
I have blue eyes, and she told me that melanoma can develop in the eyes of blue eyed people too...so wear your sunglasses if you have light eyes too! |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | And wearing a long sleeve shirt too would not hurt.. I'm guilty of not wearing long sleeve shirts I have to go to my skin Doctor every few months to get per-cancerous skin lesions burn off, I know I need to wear hats and long sleeves but its so hot and humid here my clothes stick to me and the sweating is horrible, but slowly getting my self to behave and wearing what I need to try to keep some sun off while outside if I'm going to be riding or on a tractor.
This is a good reminder, Thank you  |
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  Witty Enough
Posts: 2954
Location: CTX | Sorry you had to go through that!
Good warning though, I also wear ball caps al the time while I should be wearing one of my straw hats when working outside. Recently I picked up a moisturizer with spf 15. Now if only I remember to apply it to the tip of my ears....
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Veteran
Posts: 286
| I'm all about big hats, long sleeve shirts and staying in the shade whenever possible. I don't care what others think about the things I am wearing....I don't like the sun beating on me-period and I try to take care of my skin.
For those younger peeps, don't forget to put sunscreen on the back of your hands. ;-). I wish I had started doing that years ago. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 575
| MOGirl07 - 2019-01-22 9:29 AM
That's really scary...I'm glad it sounds like they got it all and you'll be a-ok.
But, yes. I good reminder for all of us. I'm terrible about wearing sunscreen. I do see a derm once a year for a mole check.
I have blue eyes, and she told me that melanoma can develop in the eyes of blue eyed people too...so wear your sunglasses if you have light eyes too!
Yes!! I started investing in polarized glasses a few years ago for that reason. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 575
| Southtxponygirl - 2019-01-22 9:35 AM
And wearing a long sleeve shirt too would not hurt.. I'm guilty of not wearing long sleeve shirts I have to go to my skin Doctor every few months to get per-cancerous skin lesions burn off, I know I need to wear hats and long sleeves but its so hot and humid here my clothes stick to me and the sweating is horrible, but slowly getting my self to behave and wearing what I need to try to keep some sun off while outside if I'm going to be riding or on a tractor.
This is a good reminder, Thank you
Oh yes this too. I'm on the coast of CA so long sleeves are pretty easy to do. But when we travel farther into the valley for races it's a lot harder to convince myself to put on the long sleeve! |
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Expert
Posts: 1395
Location: Missouri | rpreast - 2019-01-22 10:39 AM
MOGirl07 - 2019-01-22 9:29 AM
That's really scary...I'm glad it sounds like they got it all and you'll be a-ok.
But, yes. I good reminder for all of us. I'm terrible about wearing sunscreen. I do see a derm once a year for a mole check.
I have blue eyes, and she told me that melanoma can develop in the eyes of blue eyed people too...so wear your sunglasses if you have light eyes too!
Yes!! I started investing in polarized glasses a few years ago for that reason.
Wait so regular run of the mill sunglasses won't protect one's eyes? If that's the case.....Well crud.
I'd better go get a fee new pairs. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 672
| Yes! Wear your sunscreen, hats, and long sleeves!
I had a tiny spot on my cheek removed and the Dr insisted I was too young (24yo) for it to be anything serious, well it came back as a melanoma and I had to have an additional 3 cm removed from the original incision which left me with a 3" scar that is pretty well hidden by my ear. I go back for yearly checkups.
Edited by veintiocho 2019-01-23 12:01 PM
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 575
| MOGirl07 - 2019-01-23 10:10 AM
rpreast - 2019-01-22 10:39 AM
MOGirl07 - 2019-01-22 9:29 AM
That's really scary...I'm glad it sounds like they got it all and you'll be a-ok.
But, yes. I good reminder for all of us. I'm terrible about wearing sunscreen. I do see a derm once a year for a mole check.
I have blue eyes, and she told me that melanoma can develop in the eyes of blue eyed people too...so wear your sunglasses if you have light eyes too!
Yes!! I started investing in polarized glasses a few years ago for that reason.
Wait so regular run of the mill sunglasses won't protect one's eyes? If that's the case.....Well crud.
I'd better go get a fee new pairs.
I MIGHT be off on this, but as I understand the polarization helps with the glare, and then there is another level that offers UV protection as well. But regular polarized glasses, and even just regular sunglasses, don't necessarily protect against the UV rays.
I've got another appointment with the dermatologist tomorrow so I will for sure ask for clarification! |
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