Today's post is a public service announcement for all my lovely friends, customers, and brides out there. When I was in high school and college... I thought it very "cool" to be the tan Florida girl... tanning beds before big events... loooong days at the beach... even the occasional baby-oil-back-yard-afternoon.
Well... until this weekend. I spent the long weekend in Charleston, South Carolina with a childhood girlfriend enjoying a girl's weekend before her big day in late June. During my visit, her maid of honor mentioned to me that she had Melanoma when she was just 18. Holy cow... I thought... I've never been checked for scary moles or even worse... skin cancer.
So upon my return, I quickly made an appointment at the USF Health Dermatologist office and took my freckled self over for an afternoon appointment. Low and behold the doctor removed two spots - one on my lower right arm and one on my upper left thigh. First things first... ouch. Second, I was shaken up. The doctor told me that my spots were probably fine... but would, if they came back cancerous, be Melanoma - based on their coloring. I'd had both moles for as long as I can remember... but had never looked at such teeny (somewhat normal looking?) moles like they could be dangerous.
So now I wait... and see what the biopsies reveal. I realize that many of you reading this will have already gone through something like this... having spots removed and tested... and hope you'll leave your words of encouragement :) I'm scared... only because I've never heard the C word and my name in the same sentence. I'm a glass-half-full kinda girl, so I'll keep my chin up... and hope I don't receive a certified letter in the mail in the next three weeks. That's how they tell you if it's cancer (awful, I know).
So my thought to share with you all... is that Mystic Tan is cool. SPF is good for you. And snow white is the new it-skin-color :)
I'm sure all is well and I've just had another mole removed like everyone else... but its scary nonetheless... will update soon :)
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1 comment:
Oh Em! I'll be thinking about you! I know how scary this must be! My mom and grandpa got several moles removed, none turned out to be cancer, so I'm hoping the same for you! And I know what you mean about the sun! Being beach girls and tanning like we used to (and I still do :( ) isn't the best thing huh? Keep us updated!
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