Say NO to the tanning bed {and get a skin check}

I started using a tanning bed in high school, first for prom, then for a Spring Break cruise. While I didn’t tan consistently, just one time in a tanning bed does permanent damage and increases the risk for skin cancer. After high school, I went off to college in a small mountain town that had freezing cold winters. But like many other girls, I wanted to be “tan” even though it’s completely unnatural to have a tan in the middle of winter. So I purchased a membership to a local tanning salon, and I went once a week or so. Part of me knew about the risks, and it did make me think about what I was doing…but it didn’t stop me from going. I even justified it by wearing a low SPF sunscreen. Looking back, it was stupid. Unfortunately, I can’t take it back. Luckily for me though, I came to my senses during my second year of college and canceled my tanning membership. I started relying on self-tanning lotions to get a “glow”, which is a much safer alternative if you feel the need to be tan. I can’t undo the damage that tanning beds did to my skin in the past, but I can work hard now to protect my skin from further sun damage. I was also a lifeguard from the time I was 16 until just last year – so I baked in the sun for 6 years outdoors. However, I was much more diligent about sunscreen and reapplying sunscreen (and sitting in the shade!) while lifeguarding. That may not completely prevent sun damage, but at least I took more of an initiative to be as safe as possible in the sun.

Fast forward to the present – I was reading Alyssa’s post about her rude awakening with skin cancer, and it made me anxious to have my own skin check done. I was admittedly nervous about it. I felt sure that I had suspicious spots on multiple areas of my skin. I worked up the courage to make an appointment, and I showed up not knowing what to expect. I saw a doctor at a local dermatology office, who glanced over my skin and declared my skin and moles perfectly fine. I wasn’t happy with this answer, since I had noticed several spots that I deemed suspicious. I told her about my lifeguarding and baking-in-the-sun past, and questioned her about specific spots on my skin. She said I was in the clear, but to continue to get a yearly skin check. I left the doctor’s office feeling surprisingly uncertain about her evaluation. My uneasiness led me to making another appointment, this time with the same PA that Alyssa saw, the one who gave Alyssa her skin cancer diagnosis. I had heard good things about this PA, so I decided I needed a second opinion. I made an appointment right away. I went into this appointment feeling optimistic that I would have a better experience, and trust me when I say that this dermatologist is AWESOME. She was SO thorough and I immediately felt like she knew what she was talking about. In fact, within 2 minutes of her looking at my skin, she noticed a spot on my arm…a spot that I remembered seeing before and thinking it was suspicious. She ended up taking a biopsy right then, by shaving off part of the mole. It didn’t even hurt. I was told to expect a 2+ week wait for the results, but it ended up taking nearly 3 weeks. I got a call today – the mole in question is “atypical” and will have to be removed and I’ll be getting stitches in my arm. Next Thursday, in fact. To say this is a wake up call is an understatement. While I don’t use tanning beds anymore (and never will – also, my future children never will either), I still could improve my sun safety skills during the summer. Needless to say, I plan to be more careful from now on. I’m SO thankful for Alyssa’s post AND her dermatologist recommendation. It’s scary to think that I could have just had that first consultation, in which my skin looked “fine” and not gone back for an entire year. I don’t know what this says about our doctors, but if you have any doubts – always get a second opinion. And PLEASE go get your skin checked (and wear sunscreen!) – once a year is the recommendation for a skin check. It’s worth it.

If you’re in the Hampton Roads area, and would like to know more about the dermatologist I went to, send me an email at laviefabuleuse@gmail.com.