Every year we do this thread, and every year I look back and recount my visits to my dermatologist....once every 6 months, like clockwork. He started carving about 4 years ago. I lost track, but I think it's close to 20 moles removed, and 2 of them required a second visit for surgery to remove more tissue...to be sure. So far, so good, but Doc's been watching 3 of 'em on my back that are "suspicious".
My derm. tells me that the sun does not actually cause the body to create the bad cells. He says that some of us have a pre-disposition for skin cancer, and it will crop up sometime as we cruise thru life, with or without the sun. What the sun does, though, is facilitate the predisposition and act like a catalyst.
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Dski and I both wrestle with sun/skin issues. Hats with earflaps, SPF 50 (min) plus longsleeves and trousers.
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Another thing the Derm told me is that certain areas of the body are worse to get skin damage than others. The face and backs of the hands are baddies. The reason is the amount of tissue that the bad cells have to grow thru to get into the bloodstream. The face and hands are very thin and there is little time to remove the bad cells before it's too late.
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One last thing...at least for now. For all those that may or may not remember any of the stuff in this thread, please remember at least this one thing. There is no cure for melanoma skin cancer. Once it spreads, it's game over.
