water algea 2016 06 22 015

Escape Bullet Holes With Sunscreen

Escape "Bullet Holes" with Sunscreen!

Babysitting was the best form of birth control for me. Once I realized the amount of time, work and often disgusting chores that went with caring for a baby, I quickly understood the significance of making sure I was not having one...until I was totally ready.

Fast forward 35 years and I have two tweens who call me mom. They are my world and like all loving moms, I want to protect them from future harm.

Hence the reason for these graphic pictures.

                                                                      I have skin cancer.

But the damage was done years earlier, when as a child I refused sunscreen. When as a teen, I lathered on baby oil and life-guarded unprotected throughout college. When after college, I still worshiped the idea of looking tan and bought a tanning bed. (If only I'd been born in Brazil or Australia, I couldn't have done that because those countries have banned indoor tanning altogether.[1]")

Add all those years up and then move to Key West Florida and you've got the perfect recipe for more sun, more damage and ultimately...the Big C.

I now wear sunscreen. 

Thankfully with skin, it's not one of those "a day late and a dollar short" type of scenarios. 

If you protect yourself, you can keep yourself from getting more skin damage. Our skin is our body's largest organ, but it is usually the one that most people ignore. And "each year there are more new cases of skin cancer than the combined incidence of cancers of the breast, prostate, lung and colon."[2]

1 in 5 Americans will develop skin cancer in the course of a lifetime![3]

I have had numerous instances of non-melanoma skin cancers through the years and have had things cauterized, scraped, and literally burned from within by using Imiquimod cream to kill basal cells by turning my flesh into seeping painful patches that resembled 3rd degree burns on my entire chest area.

And still, I thought no big deal.

 I continued tanning in a bikini, walking around without long sleeves, or hats, or 50+ UV protection... even though I lived in Florida where the total sunny days average 259 each year.[4]

But that view changed last week when I had MOHS© surgery on my face, And it's not over, because I have to go back in 4 days for it to be done to my right leg for an even larger area.

Let's just say, I wised up.

I want to live a long full life for my children and husband. I want to be alive more than I want to be fashionable. So if that means wearing UV protected clothing, a big goofy hat and zinc across my nose, so be it.

My kids used to argue when I pulled out the zinc stick. But now they realize how damaging those beautiful sunshine rays are to their mommy. Their perspective has changed and now they remind me to be safe. "Mom, make sure you wear your sunscreen. Don't forget your hat mom." Or they see clothing in the surf shop and say- "That would look good on you Mom," instead of before when they'd been mortified to suggest a bright colored cover-up.

 Love is in the eye of the beholder. And when I see those freckles popping up across the nose of my blonde-haired blue eyed child, I no longer think, "how cute." Instead, I cringe with fear for her.

Then I squeeze an extra portion of sunscreen on her face.

 She used to fight me off, now she closes her eyes, braces herself and smiles...not because she likes it, but because she gets it. She understands. Much like I did the first time I babysat.

So yes, the selfie I took of myself (when the doctor left the room and didn't see me) wasn't for my own personal gross perspective.

But it was for my children.

And when I get the stitches out Thursday and endure the scalpel again for my leg, I'll probably take a few more shots just for good measure.

I'm just thankful for the fact I have scars to show.

Because there are no better words to hear than "We got it all."

If my post, my gross pictures and my plea can help anyone else out there, then I've done my good deed for the day.

 Please wear sunscreen and UV protection and slather it liberally on your children.

Because one person dies of melanoma every 57 minutes[5].

I don't want it to be you!

-Tammy Fitzherbert



UPDATE

 A lot of people have asked how it has turned out so I'm including some pics of the head and the leg. I'm pretty happy with the results so far and the minimal scarring on my forehead. My stitches haven't been taken out of my leg yet so that will have to go in a later post.

I wore a compression bandage for 48 hours.

It was hard hiding that big bandage but I had my favorite Carolina Panthers hat to help.

Panthers cover

This is after I took off bandage 48 hours later. Still had the brown tape over sutures and some bruising.

Obviously I had to keep it covered well when we went out in the beautiful sunshine:

one week later- about to get sutures out.   

Stitches out.

This is me (without makeup as usual) 13 days later. Definite improvement!

Here's the leg stitched up: ( They were too fast for me to get a pic of the cancerous area they removed before they began stitching me up. But once again I was relieved to hear the words, They Got It ALL!

Until my next update, Keep wearing your sunscreen and enjoy every minute the Good Lord has given you!

Tammy "Frankenstein" Fitzherbert

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[1] Indoor Tanning Is Not Safe. Indoor Tanning Policies. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/skin/basic_info/indoor_tanning.htm . Last updated January 5, 2016, last reviewed January 22, 2016.

[2] Rogers HW, Weinstock MA, Feldman SR, Coldiron BM. Incidence estimate of nonmelanoma skin cancer (keratinocyte carcinomas) in the US population, 2012. JAMA Dermatol 2015; 151(10):1081-1086.

       [3] Robinson, JK. Sun exposure, sun protection, and vitamin D. JAMA 2005; 294:1541-43.

        [4] https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/Florida/annual-days-of-sunshine.php

[5] American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts & Figures 2015. http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/content/@editorial/documents/document/acspc-044552.pdf.  Accessed January 9, 2015.