A deceivingly long needle slowly punctures the pale skin on my back. I swear I can feel it coming through my stomach. Waiting for the numbness to set in takes forever, yet I wish the numbness was in my mind so I couldn’t worry. Blood drips from the scalpel gliding along the surface of my skin, and the doctor begins work as if she were a paleontologist digging for fossils. These are some of the steps of a mole excision, at least what I remember of it. A situation like this can be avoided for the most part.
I want to share my experience with life-threatening melanoma to bring awareness to preventing skin cancer. Unexplainable pain. Inability to concentrate. These are things I experienced just in composing this piece — can you imagine how I felt going through the biopsies and multiple surgeries, and then waiting to hear results? I didn’t have writer’s block when composing this perspective; this time my block was facing fear. The fear of cancer. The fear of trying to successfully reach out to many individuals and educate them on how to save lives.
May is Melanoma Awareness Month. As the warm weather and sunshine slowly seep through the clouds that have been hovering above, it is time to start wearing those Red Sox hats and lathering on the sunblock. Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer. According to the Melanoma Foundation of New England’s website, melanoma is the second most common cancer in people 25 to 29 years old. It’s not so far fetched to think in a few years you, too, could be diagnosed. I never expected it at age 20. Moles can look like a simple beauty mark on the surface, but underneath, it could be slowly killing you. To detect mole abnormality, look for asymmetry, irregular borders, discoloration and anything larger than six millimeters.
The Skin Cancer Foundation says anyone can get skin cancer, but three main groups are at higher risk — people with fair skin, people with a family history of skin cancer and people of any skin type who allow themselves substantial, unprotected exposure to the sun. Having “tannable” skin doesn’t omit you from the dangerous rays emitted from the sun or the bulbs in a booth because “sun exposure has a cumulative effect. Even though a suntan may disappear, skin cancer can show up years later,” according to a SCF brochure. To prevent the lethal ultraviolet rays that hit our bodies everyday from doing excessive damage, wear sunscreen SPF 15 or higher, toss on hats and UV-blocking sunglasses, avoid burning and seek the shade between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Nobody wants to look 65 years old when they are only 40 years old. Applying tanning oil and sitting in tanning beds promotes “aging of the skin, including premature wrinkling, sagging, leathering and blotchy discoloration,” according to the SCF. A healthy alternative to tanning booths is a mystic tan, a UV-Free spray tan that can give a golden glow.
Luckily, my malignant melanoma was caught in the early stages thanks to a yearly checkup, but what scares me is that so many other individuals may have mole abnormalities and not even know it. I went to college in California for two years and lived at the beach. It sounds ironic, but I never lay out in the sun, and always took precaution because I have red hair and fair skin. What totally slipped my mind was that the sun hits my face and other exposed skin every time I step outside, even if I’m not at the beach. If I never realized that, then I’m sure other Americans don’t either.
On one of the nice days we had here in Boston, I noticed students camped out along campus trying to absorb the sparse sunshine. It’s great to finally enjoy the fresh air outside, but make sure everyone must realize that even though they’re not at a beach with sand, the BU Beach can still attract the sun’s dangerous rays. Athletes who are outside practicing for hours at a time must take precautions, too.
I know of very few fellow melanoma survivors, but one of them is Shonda Schilling. She runs The Shade Foundation with her husband, Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling. The organization is dedicated to promoting skin cancer awareness by educating the community and promoting sun safety. An organization like this can save the lives of young children and adults by educating and spreading awareness.
Media outlets have the ability to reach the masses of inhabitants on this earth and convey messages, and they should do it for the good, as these philanthropic organizations do. Marie Claire Magazine had an ad that read “every 67 minutes someone dies from melanoma.” I could have been one of those statistics. I was proud of the magazine for promoting awareness. The public is always being presented with new ideas, news events, etc., but it is up to the public to listen. Hopefully this perspective has made at least someone aware. Hey, if I got anyone this far, then I guess I did my job.
Melissa Parrelli is a sophomore in the College of Communication.