I am not going to get preachy here, but, I have to say something.

When I was young mum took me to a dermatologist who told her to make sure that I took care of my skin and not get burnt. She wouldn't let me out of the house unless I was slathered in sunscreen. It became a habit, and I thank my mum for that. I never got a bad burn in my life. Ms Paisty legs here.

It didn't stop me from developing malignant melanoma.

I lost part of my arm and they had to go into my chest cavity to get the affected lymph nodes. Had they not, I would have died within 5 months.

Melanoma and other skin cancers used to be thought as an old persons ailment. they didn't have sunscreen back then. People didn't care.

Kids as young as 12 years old are dieing from melanoma.

Here are some stats.

1 person every 13 miniutes dies from breast cancer.

1 person every miniute dies from Melanoma.

75% of the people who get Melanoma die within the first year of diagnosis.

I have a friend who is a month to the day older than I am, and we were diagnosed about the same time. She had lived a different lifestyle, she tanned any way she could.

Her melanoma has traveled through her body, and she won't be seeing this christmas.

Melanoma starts as a mole, or a dark spot on the skin. It works its way down the layers of the skin, and travels through the lymp system to other parts of the body, - to any and every organ it can, and then, you die. and its not a process that takes years. Melanoma can develope into a tumor the size of a millameter in a months time. It spreads with in three months, and from there, death follows within 3 months.

There is no cure for Melanoma. The treatment is to remove the tumor and the affected area, including for some amputation of limbs. (I was lucky, I only lost the top muscles of my arm where the cancer formed) There are no super drugs, no magic bullets. The treatments for other cancers don't work. Chemo & radiation don't work. they can only cut out the tumors and hope they stay a step ahead of it.

The clinical trials they have had haven't worked. The problem being, people refuse to believe it can happen to them. and then they ignore the symptoms. (mine being I just didn't - feel well!)

What are the chances of getting Melanoma?

When I started learning about it, when I was dx, it was one person out of a thousand, then it went to one person out of a hundred, then one person out of 25, and now, the stats for the us are every third person. In austraila the stats are every other person gets melanoma.

Tans are your skin cells dieing. yes, they replenish every 14 days, but, the thing is, if you keep killing the layers of skin, they lose the ablity to replenish, and you become old before your time.

Coppertone has begun its own "learn not to Tan" campaign. Look at their displays in the store and you see the area under the bottom of the suit is as pale as the rest of the child.

I know, people say "it can't happen to me." well, it does.

*I* did all the right things. and I still got melanoma.

You have a daughter to raise. You want to be there for her when she marries, and gives you grand children.

A tan, just isn't worth giving up all of that.

kath

I agree with you~most of the time I don't concern myself with tans. Sometimes, though, I just feel "healthier" when I have color. And I know-that's totally false. My boss has had many melanomas removed from her skin-nothing too seroius so far. Like I said, I was stupid. Sometimes, I just don't consider the future-like with the smoking. But tanning is much easier to avoid for me than smoking. So yes, I deserve that lecture!!

I agree with you~most of the time I don't concern myself with tans. Sometimes, though, I just feel "healthier" when I have color. And I know-that's totally false. My boss has had many melanomas removed from her skin-nothing too seroius so far. Like I said, I was stupid. Sometimes, I just don't consider the future-like with the smoking. But tanning is much easier to avoid for me than smoking. So yes, I deserve that lecture!!

Some sun is good for you, no more than 15 min a day though. It replenishes the vitimen D in your body and works on some of the other things too- if you have some skin conditions it will help, but no, tans are not good for you.You wouldn't put your hand on a hot griddle, would you? its just the same.

ah, well,

My dad stopped smoking 30 yrs ago, and it will be 2 yrs this november that he died from lung cancer. His tumor was the size of a baseball, When the cancer came back three months after his surgery, he had 4 months with us. I held his hand as he struggled for breath, I , and my siblings, and my adopted brother and mom and his grand children were there when he died. he never saw his great grand daughter.

I could introduce you to Peter- a dear friend of mine who is undergoing treatment for rectal cancer. He is 39, and he is stage three- which is its gone into the lymph system, and his chance of survival for a year is 2%. The dr said if he smoked, that he would have no chance at all.

Here is a test, and its simple.

Get a white hankerchiff, and fold it over and when you smoke, breath out through it for every time you light up, and at the end of the day look at it- you will notice it is discolored.

My niece was asked what she wanted for her birthday, and she said for her parents to stop smoking. My brother was amazed at how good food taisted. When you smoke, it goes everywhere- and your child begins to smell like cigarettes, and the clothing, and hair and furnature, and its worse than a wet dog that has been hit by a skunk.

there was something in the local paper that said that there are 70 known chemicals in second hand smoke that cause cancer.

Hon, if you have to have a vice, make it chocolate...(the good dark stuff) at least its good for you, and you don't have to worry if your kid picks up the habit.

Hugs,

Kath