Scared About Melanoma/Anything I can do

[jamesrwright]

I am very concerned about my risk for melanoma. I spent many years at the community pool as a child, and then utilized tanning beds in college and shortly afterwards to help with my mood. I suffer from seasonal affective disorder and get depressed in the winter.  I probably have visited the tanning bed less than 60 times in my life.I was told that tanning beds are primarily responsible for the relatively benign types of skin cancer and not melanoma. I actually didn't know much about melanoma until recently.

I haven't gone out in the sun alot for about two years, and the thought of going into a tanning bed makes me want to puke. I am now older and wiser and can't believe how dumb I was. I am certainly not going to continue in the madness, but I am afraid it may be too late. I feel like I am doomed.

I am moderate complexion. I am not dark, but I don't burn easily. If I do burn it's a slight red and it goes away within 1 day. I only recall one burning episode as a child where I peeled. I do have freckles but just on my face and they are only noticeable after I have gone out in the sun. Otherwise you barely notice them. They are't like the freckles present on most red heads.  My hair is brown, my eyes are blue. I have more than a typical number of moles  (probably a little over 50). Very few are irregular, and most are normal looking and are quite small. I have no family history of melanoma, just prostate cancer.

I just don't know what to do. I feel like I am just a ticking time bomb and honestly feel doomed.  I am now checking my moles regularly, but I feel like its only a matter of time until it rears its head. I went to a check at UPMC here in Pittsburgh and it came up clean, and I am going for a full body scan in January.  I have been taking antioxidants to help reverse the damage, but I am not sure if that is going to do any good.

Do you have any thoughts/suggestions regarding my situation?:(

[craig04]

I am 20 years old and i just got my first moderate sunburn, it is fairly red and starting to blister, after reading on the internet i am told that this doubles my chances or developing cancer.... now very concerned...

[jamesrwright]

Thanks for the post! I only recall ever getting burned one time in my life as a child as in a serious peeling sunburn. I mostly stayed out of the sun until my later years. I would go to the pool, but then I would be home playing video games alot of the time.  I only recall one summer sunbathing. The rest I didn't stay there that long.

The burns I got later in life were rather mild. Simple redness overnight.(from tanning bed).I would be fine the next day so I am not going to worry too much. I had a prelim check at UPMC last month,and I am scheduled for a body exam next month. I also examine myself after I shower

Those stories on the net did scare me a ton and freaked me out and then I read the states and relative risk factors and I about had a caniption.

I am sorry to hear about your friend, but I am glad it was caught on her in time. That is strange that it was on the one part of her body that didn't receive sun. That is why Bernard Ackerman is rethinking the whole UV/Melanoma hypothesis.

Be vigilant!

[dcdre14]

Hi,

I used to be in the same boat as you - I felt doomed about getting melanoma - I was very careless as a kid, teen, and young adult.  I got sun-burned badly pretty much every summer growing up, and I used tanning beds in college...

After a friend of mine got melanoma in her twenties (she's fine - it was caught early), I realized how dumb I'd been and became terrified of getting it... the horror stories on the internet didn't help things, either!

I started seeing a great dermatologist who was very reassuring.  I now see her every 4-6 months for a full-body check.  I don't really have any moles - mostly just small freckles much smaller than a pencil eraser...

Just visit your dermatologist regularly and you'll be fine!

And by the way, my friend who had melanoma never went in the sun (and she got it in a part of never body that was never exposed to the sun anyway)... weird huh?

DCDRE

[jamesrwright]

Thank you very much! I am going to go for regular skin checks, and I am also going to do regular checks myself.

I am just concerned that I am at very high risk for melanoma.

Can you analyze my risk factors?

Jim

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

There is no need and no point in your feeling "doomed."  Lots of people had sun exposure before they grew up and got smarter.  I advise you to go for regular skin checks and take the routine sun precautions they advise you to follow.

Take care.

Dr. Rockoff