Thank you for your timely article “No skin off their backs? Survey finds 80% of America’s teenagers know tanning can be dangerous; 66% would indulge their vanity; Skin cancer experts worry” (News, May 2).
I recently discovered and was diagnosed with skin cancer melanoma on my back. Luckily I immediately saw the dermatologist who removed it, closed the incision with 13 stitches and took a biopsy.
As a result of the biopsy, I am now nervously awaiting a second surgical procedure to widen this incision, along with a sentinel lymph node biopsy to determine whether or not this may have spread.
Becoming tanned, rather sunburned, in my teen years and later created a healthy glow for me I felt. And I really didn’t worry about it.
Melanoma is dangerous and potentially deadly, and now I know, and am heeding the advice of my physicians and hoping for a positive outcome.
I urge you sunbathers, avoid the sun’s intensity, wear a hat and use sunscreen. Melanoma can happen to you. And, although many years later, it has now happened to me.
