A Girl named Kent

Eh Hmmm....it's that time of year for me to get on my soap box. Wait a minute...okay... here I go! The sun is NOT your friend! Oh yes it may feel so nice to be out in the warm sun soaking up rays and thinking how much better your clothes will look with tanned skin but it is not so nice to hear words like Melanoma, Basal skin cancer, age spots etc. It's been two years since I was diagnosed with Melanoma skin cancer. It had been a spot on my arm that for 4 years and 4 Dr. visits later finally got tested. I had 4 different Drs tell me that it was nothing until finally I insisted on getting tested (thanks Matt and my friend Wendy for pushing me to keep going). So when I got the call at work that I had the beginning stages of Melanoma I was not a happy camper! Melanoma is a scary, nasty cancer and once it has reached a certain stage recovering is unlikely. Thank God it was at the stage where they could cut it out and it was not deep enough to require chemo and radiation! The follow up Dr I see now every 6 months said I was very lucky and boy do I know that. But it is something I am reminded of every time I look at my 4 inch scar on my arm or go in to get screened and have to get another area biopsied.

So when I hear of people rushing to the tanning beds or laying out I have to cover my ears and hum a song! PLEASE do not take the sun or tanning lightly. Wear sun screen whenever you are in the son even if you are riding in a car! Always wear facial cream that has an SPF of 15 or more. You may never have to deal with skin cancer but at least it will help you get less wrinkles and age spots.

So that is my soap box talk thanks for listening - I'll get down now!