There are days in which I get discouraged. ?I sometimes think I am fighting a battle that can never be won. ?I get tired of telling people to put on sunscreen because the sun will kill you and they go ahead and burn anyway. ?I can?t help but wonder if I am just wasting my breath. ?But then there are days that are EXTREMELY rewarding. ?One of those days happened last week when a woman, who actually won one of my Mole Detective sweep stakes, shared with me her story of how melanoma has touched her life and what she is doing today about it. ?Reading Audrey?s story inspired me to keep on going. ?She reminded me that we are giving a VERY important message and people CAN change their behavior to prevent skin cancer. ?Grab a tissue and read her amazing story. ?Thank you, Audrey. ?You are courageous! ?You are saving lives. ?You our an inspiration.
Brother Keith, Audrey, and brother Alan ? 7/2011
I am Audrey, a 41 year old woman, mother of 4. I?m a wife, a child of God. I?m a daughter, a sister.? I?m a person with a goal. That goal is to spread awareness any way possible, on the dangers of tanning, and raise awareness of skin cancer, focusing on melanoma.
I was a tanner. Baby oil and Noxzema where staples in our household growing up. We would lie outside, lather ourselves up with baby oil, and fry outside. Cool ourselves off with water. Reapply more oil. I believed burning was the only way to get a tan. Going to a tanning booth was even better! You can get that tan in less time! How awesome is that! Oh how I wish I knew then, what I know now.
Eighteen years ago, my brother Alan, was diagnosed with melanoma. I knew nothing then, what I know now about melanoma.? Back then, I believed, you cut it out, you are fine. No one told me otherwise. No one told me to stop tanning. So I thought all was fine. Jump to March 16, 2011. Driving home from work, Alan experienced a seizure which resulted in a one car accident. When trying to find out what caused the seizure, they found two tumors in his brain, and one in his lung. The melanoma metastasized. It does that?! I thought it stayed on the skin?? Wrong. Oh so wrong. Alan went through radiation and chemo. Tried to get on trials for the new drugs that came out to fight stage IV melanoma, to no avail. The melanoma spread more, to his liver and pancreas. August 31, 2011, Alan lost his courageous battle with melanoma. I had vowed to him I would do all I could to spread awareness of this preventable cancer, so no one else had to go through what he did, what us as a family did.
It has been a learning experience for me. The statistics are constantly changing regarding melanoma. It is now the number one cancer and the fastest growing cancer worldwide. The thing is, this is the most preventable cancer. I have spent more on sunscreen this year than I have my entire life. I live doing skin checks on myself and my children. Three of my children, ages 12, 9 and 7 at the time, had moles removed from their heads which were precancerous. I just had a freckle removed that came back as a dysplastic nevus. (It doesn?t have to be a mole to be cancerous. Freckles can too!)
Trying to get people to listen and understand has been a challenge. I?m not sure if something has to happen to themselves or someone they know, before they get it. Sometimes I feel like I?m talking to a brick wall. But those I do hear back from, friends in my community, to a group of women I know and love, known as the Momfia that consists of women worldwide? To know I?ve made a powerful impact in their lives is a blessing and quite overwhelming.
Melanoma is cancer. It is not just on the skin. An area much larger than the mole needs to be cut out, leaving scars. More than likely you will lose lymph nodes. You will need some kind of treatment. Most that have melanoma live three months at a time. They go every 3 months to get scans and treatment and wait to hear ?no evidence of disease? so they can go on another three months. This cancer is preventable. Wear sunscreen. Apply 30 minutes before going out, and then reapply every 2 hours. Learn what the SPF really means. The higher the SPF does not mean you can stay out longer. Wear a sun hat or stay out of the sun altogether. All one needs is 5 minutes a day in the sun to get your daily dose of Vitamin D. You probably spend that walking to the mailbox or from your car to a building.
I am always posting things on Facebook about melanoma and tanning. I have a booth at a local health fair with information. I?ve even brought in a dermatologist who gave free skin cancer screenings. I raised pledges for the Melanoma Research Foundation through a local 5k run called Block the Sun Run. I was recently given the idea to have a float in a parade as well. I am trying to get curriculum into the local schools, to teach the children about the dangers of tanning, and how to be safe in the sun. I will do all I can to get people to know and understand what the sun can do to them. I wish I would have known then, what I know now.
My brother was 47 when he lost his fight. He is dearly missed every day by me and my family. There more important things than trying to get your tan on. Like living.
oklahoma state university badgers badgers nbc sports network mendenhall demarcus cousins savannah brinson
No comments:
Post a Comment