For
those of us living in the Southwest part of the country, sunshine
and sunburns aren’t all that uncommon. Most of us have suffered from
the effects of too long a time at the beach without any sunscreen.
When I was a kid, no one worried about too much sun or what it could
eventually do to you. I remember going to the beach, staying out all
day and turning lobster red, then having to ride back home on
plastic seat covers with sand all over you.
This
method insured that your skin was scoured down like someone had
buffed you all over with coarse sandpaper. Stage one, was when you
had to go almost naked for several days until the pain went away.
Stage two was when you started to peel. This was always delightful
to experience or to witness. Anyway, my point is that we should be
much more careful about how much sun we get and why. I never thought
about any consequences of getting a great tan until some years ago
when I started developing skin cancers.
Now,
as you may know there are basically 3 types of skin cancers, basal,
squamous, and melanoma. I’ve had all 3 kinds. Most of them have been
fairly simple things that get taken care of in the dermatologist’s
office. My melanoma was malignant and was taken off about 10 years
ago with no continuing problems. As you can imagine, I am cognizant
of the sun and it’s harmful effects. I go to a dermatologist every 4
months or so just to get checked out. Let me make one thing
perfectly clear. What you think is or might be a problem or possible
cancer isn’t always what concerns the doctor. For example, I went in
a few weeks ago with a spot on my hand. No big deal said the doctor
and he froze it off with that liquid stuff they use. However he
found a small spot on my forehead that was about ½ the size of a
pencil eraser and didn’t like it at all. Did a biopsy and found it
was a basal cell cancer.
Since
these are the easiest to take care of I wasn’t overly concerned.
Wrong. Went to the local doctor here that removes these for what I
thought was going to be a 30-minute deal. It turned out to be a
3-hour ordeal. He’d cut, then biopsy, then cut, then biopsy and then
cut some more and then biopsy some more. I ended up with a cut about
4 inches across my forehead. He did the best he could to sew it up,
but I can tell you I won’t be a show puppy. I think I’ll probably
tell people I was in a sword fight or it’s an old dueling scar. The
point is, don’t take any of this stuff for granted, wear sunscreen,
and see a doctor from time to time to make certain you’re ok. Don’t
be silly, this is serious stuff and it can kill you. As in
dead.
There
is one curious side effect to having a giant scar on your forehead.
You get better service. My truck got stolen a week or so ago, and
that’s another story. The police recovered it the day after I
reported it stolen and I had to go to the city impound lot to
recover it. Now, this place must be used to rough people, since it
had steel walls, no chairs or benches and the cashier ‘s glass was
about an inch thick. The little pass through tray might allow enough
room to pass some bills and a credit card, but not much more. I
imagine they get some belligerent and tough hombres in there from
time to time. Anyway, I go in not knowing what kind of hassle I’d
get trying to bail out my old truck. The cashier looked up at my
head and just said.” No, problem we’ll get that out right away,
sir." And he did. I got the same treatment at the car wash when
I went to get it cleaned. I might just want one of these put on the
other side of my head ..everyone says it gives me character. I
thought I had enough of that already. Write to me at www.pearyperry.com.
