Sharee’s Story
A year ago, at age 23, I noticed a mole on my back. My concern prompted me to visit my doctor to have a biopsy done to make sure it was not cancer. The test came back negative so I continued living my life as usual.
My boyfriend and I took a cruise to Mexico. Before the cruise I decided to use a tanning bed. I didn’t worry about my mole since the biopsy had found no cancer.
During the cruise we stopped at Catalina Island. I decided to walk around in my bathing suit since it was a nice day. While we were standing in line to get back on the boat, a woman pointed out my mole and said it looked like cancer. I was quite upset that public attention was directed at my mole. I told the woman that my doctor had already examined the mole, months ago, and found no cancer.
After the cruise I continued my education at California State University, Sacramento. With my course of study nearly completed, I once again decided to use a tanning bed, this time to help me look good for my graduation pictures. I figured that since I only tanned for special occasions, I was not likely to get skin cancer.
At that time, my boyfriend and I planned another cruise for December. Consequently I had the mole on my back removed for cosmetic reasons. (I surely did not want some stranger to point it out again!) The excision occurred just one year after the mole was originally tested.
Soon after the procedure a nurse called me one afternoon and said that I needed to come in right away. She hesitated to tell me why so I begged her to share with me what was going on. She replied, “Your biopsy on the mole we removed came back positive. It’s important that you come in right away.”
I was in complete shock. The first thing I thought was, oh my gosh, I am only 24 years old and I probably have cancer on my back. I began to cry and immediately called my mother. She rushed over to comfort me and told me that I was so lucky I went back to have the mole removed, or I would not have known my condition.
My mother and I went to my doctor the following day. I was put on a table, face down, and my doctor administered a local anesthetic to my back. He then explained he was going to cut the same area again but he would remove more skin this time. He finished by cauterizing the incision and sent me on my way.
The healing process was very painful. My boyfriend tended to the wounded area on a daily basis, for a week. That was a long week as we waited to hear from my doctor if he had successfully removed all the cancerous tissue.
Unfortunately, he had not. My doctor said it was early stage melanoma, and I would need to now go to a dermatologist for yet another procedure.
By then, I was pretty upset and anxious to get the whole thing over with. This time my mother and father accompanied me during my appointment with a local dermatologist. She told me she was going to make sure to cut out all the cancer this time, though it would require removing a lot of skin.
The dermatologist made a football-shaped incision in my back, below my shoulder blade, and excised a large area of skin, down to the muscle. Two layers of stitches were required on my back before it was bandaged up. The doctor explained that I would have to come back in two weeks to have the top layer of stitches removed.
The next morning when I woke up, I saw the stitches in the mirror and became nauseated to the point I nearly lost consciousness. I don’t know why I responded this way since normally I have a “stomach of steel.”
The healing is slow going but I am toughing it out. Since the whole ordeal I have been calling all of my friends and letting them know that cancer is no joke and that it can prey upon people from young to old.
Some of my friends have immediately stopped using tanning beds, while others are more consistently using sunscreen when they are out on the lake. It’s sad that sometimes it takes a crisis, occurring close to home, before people begin protecting themselves from the sun.
I am thankful that doctors accurately diagnosed my skin cancer in its early stage and successfully performed a curative treatment. Yet I know that many people have died from melanoma. I don’t know to what degree the tanning beds versus the sun contributed to my misfortune. But either way I didn’t take care of myself like I should have.
I now have a large scar on my back, which is a relatively small price to pay. But I now know I need to be careful. I hope my story will help keep others from experiencing what I did. Please remember to protect yourself from the sun’s harmful UV rays by wearing a big hat, sunglasses, and longer clothing; using sunscreen; and staying under shade, when available.
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