A departure from my usual topic…
I checked an old e-mail address today that I don’t check anymore, and received the very sad and sobering news that a friend of a friend (who I didn’t know personally) died at the age of 40, from metastatic melanoma. (Uh, that’s skin cancer and it’s not good.)
It made me think about how when I got here in February (summer), for a good two or three months the people I met would tease me about my pale skin and ask me why I didn’t lay in the sun. The same thing happened to me in Italy all the time, and blogger Nicki in Positano has had to listen to it as well. (As soon as I’d tell them about my father’s bout with malignant melinoma and how I have the gene that makes me more susceptible to it, they would stop and apologize).
My Italian and Argentine friends seem to think they are immune to skin cancer for whatever reason, but guess what - my dad’s side of the family has entirely Italian blood just like (a lot of) them, and a lot of my relatives on that Italian side - even those with darker features -have had to deal with skin cancer of one sort or another.
Anyway, it’s time to get my skin checked - I’m super overdue and this news has served as a reminder. The search for a dermatologist in Buenos Aires begins, and I hope you all read this, realize that you are NOT immune, GET YOUR SKIN CHECKED and those of you in the northern hemisphere who are about to pass through summer, PLEASE stay out of the sun - if you must go out there, make sure your sunscreen protects you from both UVA and UVB rays. If you live in Seattle where it’s overcast you’re just as much at risk - put some sunscreen on that face!
And ask yourself: is it really worth it to be tan today, only to find that a decade later you have either a) nasty wrinkly leathery saggy skin or b) possibly deadly skin cancer?
Didn’t think so.
Make Tina happy and get your skin checked. 
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6 users responded in this post
An important reminder indeed. I have skin that unquestionably looks better with a golden hue, but that is enough - no need to pursue that cinnamon color that I can’t get anyway. Alexander has very pale, translucent, white peach skin, and he definitely needs protection to avoid sunburns. So, lots of sunscreen for us!
My father had malignant skin cancer when he was only 32. His left leg bears massive scars from where they removed not only the cancerous mole but also a great area of skin around it and shaved skin from the back of his leg to use as a graft. I take melanoma cancer very seriously and have my moles checked every year. I’m glad you posted about this.
Yikes, Tina. This is something that is eternally on my to-do list, and never actually happens.
Thank you so much for the little slap to the head…I needed to read this. I am going to make an appointment. For reals.
Ah, this reminds me of two cases I had. One woman who I had only seen once, had something dodgey on the side of her face, which I noticed while doing her skin examination during a facial, I had mentioned that she should see a Dr. right away. She came back a year later very grateful, that I had pointed it out, because it was skin cancer and was treated immediately before it turned into something more potent.
My other client, I harassed for more than a year to see a dermatologist, as it was a spot that would break open, reheal and break open again…well of course it was skin cancer. But again very treatable. I wanted to hug her and hit her all at the same time. Lucky for her I opted to give her a big hug!
i was never one for tanned skin. it makes me look like a gorilla, for some reason.
for asian women, beware that the more sun you get in your youth, the more age spots you’ll get as you age (many many many more age spots than your caucasian counterparts), a peculiarity of asian skin having more melanin than caucasian skin. they look different from small moles/freckles — they’re wide and big and ugly.
in korea they’re called “juh-seung kkot”, which is literally, “flowers of the after-life” — meaning the other side is sending you flowers in anticipation of welcoming you to their land after your death. probably from skin cancer.
WEAR SKIN BLOCK, AND HATS AT THE BEACH, AND DON’T LAY OUT!
I appreciate this as well and even though I lived in LA for many years, I did not do the beach and lay in the sun..I did as a young woman, but then all the news about skin cancer came out…I have my skin checked each year…what’s better than laying in the sun, is getting regular facials (natural and organic) and using self tanning lotions….may I recommend Tomas line…I think they are international…if you must have golden hue on your legs,,,that is the best…
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