Tanning And Paying A Price

[PassionateBB]

I posted this over at mayhem and wanted readers here to see it. Please be careful with your skin!!

I'm sitting here tonight with a bandage on my nose (no jokes!) after having a little bump removed this morning. I knew, and the doctor knew just by looking at it that it was basil cell cancer. Next month I'm scheduled to have several more removed while they put me out, 3 on my legs and one on my shoulder. Most of them have been bleeding off and on for a long time.

I've spent a good portion of my life sailing, kayaking, rock climbing. I grew up on a beach here in Calif. and was there daily as a kid and later in life. I lived in Hawaii for several years, Mexico for several winters, camped out in Joshua Tree for many winters climbing and layed in the sun all the time as a teenager and young adult. When I moved to Texas I didn't lay out because it was just too damn hot for me. So I started using indoor tanning salons. I've used them for years to get tanned and for contests. It wasn't until I began using them that I started to notice wierd things appearing on my skin.

I'm writing this to just make you think. Basil cell is usually okay but has the potential to turn malignant. If this deep one I have on my right leg is malignant, as the doctor expressed it might be, then I'm in for yet another medical nightmare.

We all think and know we look better with a tan. It makes you look "healthier". You feel good tanning. As a bodybuilder, it brings out the muscles and definition. It dries you out. It helps as you get ready for a show and for photoshoots. It can kill you.

Please, please, please keep this mind the next time you go to tan. The damage to your skin will not show up for years in most cases. If you tan now, any damage may show up 10 years from now and you could be sitting in a chair with a bandage on, shaking your head and just alittle bit scared. If this post reminds just one person to check their skin then it will be worth it to be this open.

Also, there are several female physique athletes right now who have been diagnosed with basil cell cancer. Our "healthy" lifestyle isn't always so healthy.

I use to joke about looking good in my coffin. A Tanned, buffed corpse. Now it's not so funny.

Me

[Tim Wescott]

Peggy,Sorry to hear that hun,I hope everything turns out all right for you.

Can you tell me a little more about basil cell cancer...........I`ve never heard of it before?

Now you`ve got me worried,as before I moved up here I worked part time in a gym and used their tanning beds free all the time......I was always bronze looking or as red as a lobster.

I thought about it then too,(skin cancer),but of course I rationalized with the old,"It couldn`t happen to me" BS.....like I have good luck or something!! ;D

Hang in hun,and I`ll keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

[PassionateBB]

Tim, go here. It ain't pretty.

www.bloodrootproducts.com/aboutbasilcell.htm

[Tim Wescott]

WOW!!

Like I said,I used to live in the tanning beds.........especially before a contest..I`d stay in much longer than the recommended limit at times.

It was free,so I took advantage.......... the pay sucked.

Since I moved here I am the palest I have been in 10 years.....I figure there`s no one here so why tan,except I do lay in my bacyard in the summer.

Look`s like it`s Pro-Tan without a basetan for me this year!

[PassionateBB]

Suddenly the Mystic Tan and other spray ons don't seem so bad.

[Tim Wescott]

No kdding huh?

I used to say the same thing as you Peg......live fast,die young,and have a pretty corpse!!

What a stupid way of thinking......there`s nothing pretty about a corpse,especially if it`s yours.

Glad I finally wised up,and grew up, after mega-years of stupidity.

[youngblood]

Sorry to hear about this Peggy.
I've always tanned extremely easy, more so than any other family member. Of the last few years, however, I've followed more of the musician lifestyle (be white as a ghost). This past April I went to Hawaii, and within days I was almost black enough to literally be considered African American.
But the thought has been in my mind constantly, since a few of my friends have also had cancer of various types removed. Some older than me by a considerable amount, and some as young as I am.
Great post, and certainly one that keeps me alert and on my toes about my skin.

[PassionateBB]

I've always tanned easily too. I'm Hungarian, Yugoslavian and Italian, always with olive skin tone. I don't recall ever burning. Just be careful and aware.

[xenabeachgirl]

Hi Peggy, I'm sorry to hear about your situation.

I also have olive skin that naturally looks "tanned", and I darken up easily. I usually don't burn unless I go too long early on in a tanning bed. Actually never used a tanning bed before a couple of years ago when I decided to copy my boyfriend at the time.....before that it was just outside in the sun.

If I go out now, it's with sunscreen, and I only use the tanning bed for the last few weeks pre-contest; even then I worry about it. it seems like "baking" in an oven. I just noticed a new little mole on my stomach yesterday.....I'll be watching it closely.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you, Peggy.

[sockrocker]

i live in phoenix, but here's the deal:

in the summer, it's too hot to move, so i never leave the house...in the winter, i wear pants and long sleeved shirts...actually, even in summer, i wear long pants...if i don't, i have to keep my tattoo sunscreened, and it is just quite frankly easier to wear pants...i have no contest ambitions, but who knows, maybe someday i'll actually explore another area of the spectrum...i never was very comfortable with the idea of tanning beds though, i'd prolly just go running shirtless for 10 minutes or something everyday if i wanted to tan...

anywho, god's speed peggy

[Mrbig7]

Sorry to hear about the news Peggy.. Just make sure to get regular checkups with a dermatologist(***I'd recommend this to anyone who tans frequently or spends a lot of time in the sun during work or recreation***) from here on out & you should hopefully be able to keep things under control. My wife worked for a dermatologist for about 5 years & learned a lot in that short time. It definitely made her re-think her tanning frequency. The problem is, exposure to the sun, or any other ultra-violet rays(tanning bed, etc..) is cumulative and all adds up. The more time you spend exposed to the sun, from childhood on up, the greater the risk. Like most other things having to do with the body, a lot of it is genetic as well. If your parents had any skin cancer, chances are you will get it as well. This doesn't mean you can't tan anymore, just be aware of how often you are going to the extreme. Unfortunately, like most things, we tend not to think of the HEALTH aspect of until we start having problems. Luckily, sunless tanning products are getting better and better, so those that can't LIVE without a tan have some more options at their disposal. I hope everything goes well with your other biopsies and everything comes back normal. Take care! Terry

[GerryT]

Sorry to hear this, Peggy. And you were right; that site was not pretty but necessary to know about. Send you a hug and good wishes. You're in my prayers as well.

And Terry is right. Periodic examinations are imperative at this point.

Peace and blessings.

[cavemuscle]

I'm sorry you are having to go thru this, it sucks. However, it sounds like you are in good hands, and now you are aware of the dangers you can keep a better eye on things and avoid anything worse.

Wake up calls are scary, but the results from hitting the snooze button can be worse. Sounds like you have things well in had should bearound to kick but and take names for a while to come.

BIIIGGG HUUUGZZZ
Brock