Remembering Bruce and Preventing Melanoma

 

 

 

This man’s name was Bruce Alan Schroeder.   He died at the age of 41 and left behind his wife of ten years and two young children.  This man was also my brother, a son, a funny uncle, a good friend, a cousin and many other things to many other people.  Bruce lost his life to melanoma and I believe that his death could possibly have been prevented.

 

I am posting this today in Bruce's honor because it would have been his 54th birthday today.

 

As adults we remember having certain foes and certain friends within our family, at school, on our sport teams, etc. 

 

Specifically, within our large family I remember getting along better with some of my siblings than other siblings and I am sure that my brothers and sisters would attest to the same thing about themselves. 

 

 But I seriously don't remember anyone in our family having any real problems with Bruce.  He was the funny one who could crack a joke when you least expected it - even during the last days of his life here on Earth.  He was  the pacifist and the peacemaker who would walk away from a conflict or problem rather than contribute to it.

 

To this day, that wonderful part of his personality may also have contributed to the fact that his melanoma had spread so much before doctors even confirmed what it was.  If I remember it correctly (and I am sure that family members will correct me if I don't), he had many symptoms that most people would have gone to the doctor for way before he did. I think that many of us have that mentality - if we don't think about it, talk about it, or address "it," then "it" will go away.

 

I am not saying that even if Bruce had done anything differently, that things would have turned out differently.

 

But I will always wonder about it.

 

         So my purpose in writing this post has several purposes.  I hope that it will help you understand more about melanoma, the risk factors associated with it, how to help protect you and your loved ones from this disease and how to increase your chances of survival from melanoma.

 

 

Melanoma is the least common, but the most deadly skin cancer. Melanoma accounts for 79% of all skin cancer deaths.  The good news is that if you catch and treat melanoma in the early stages, the chances for long-term, disease-free survival are excellent.

Specifically, melanoma is cancer that arises in the cells that produce melanin.  Melanin is the pigment that gives us our skin, hair and eyes their color.

          Overexposure to the sun’s harmful ultraviolet -  UV rays,  is also what causes our skin to burn or tan.  Ultraviolet  light is invisible to the human eye, so even when it its cloudy out, UV rays are stilling reaching us.

        Tanning and burning are BOTH forms of skin damage caused by overexposure to UV radiation.  A tan is evidence that your body is trying to defend itself against exposure to harmful UV radiation, because the skin tries to absorb UV rays by making more melanin, which accumulates and darkens your skin to try and prevent it from burning.

Sunburn occurs when the skin cannot produce melanin quickly enough to prevent UV rays from harming blood vessels close to the skin’s surface.  The damage to the vessels causes them to swell, turning skin red.

A  common misconception is that melanomas only develop in the sun-exposed areas of the body.  Melanoma can occur anywhere on your body, including in the eye, in the lining of the nose, mouth, genitals or soles of the feet.   

What are the risk factors for melanoma?

 Family history is one factor.  About 10% of all people with melanoma have a family history of this cancer.  Your odds of getting the cancer increase if you have a history of melanoma in one or more of your first-degree relatives, which would include your parents, siblings and children. 

          Another risk factor is a history of sunburns.  Just one or more severe, blistering sunburns as a child can increase your risk of melanoma  as an adult.  You are likely to receive about 80% of your lifetime sun exposure during the first 18 years of your life, so sun safety is especially critical for children.  Studies show that an increased risk of melanoma is strongly associated with blistering sunburns between the ages of 10 and 19.  It can take 10-15 years for the damage to appear in your skin, so damage that was caused by excessive sun exposure in a person’s teens or 20’s may not show up until they are in their 30’s and 40’s.  I believe that this may have been the situation with Bruce.  He loved to take his shirt off and soak up the sun as he worked with my other brothers on the farm.  He certainly wasn’t thinking about what that might probably cost him and those he loved somewhere down the road.

Having fair skin, which means that you have less pigment in your skin and less protection from the UV radiation, is another risk factor.  So if you have blond or red hair, light-colored eyes and freckle or burn easily, your risk of getting melanoma increases.  Another misconception about melanoma is that dark-skinned and Asian people are not at risk for this disease, when in fact, one type of melanoma occurs most frequently in African Americans and Asians, developing on the palms, soles and nail beds.

A weakened immune system also increases your risk of getting melanoma.  Having HIV, AIDS or having had an organ transplant are specific examples of weakened immune systems.

Having many or unusual moles also increase your risk of melanoma.

Certain medications increase your sensitivity to the effects of the sun, so you should be aware if the medication that you are taking is one of them.

Other factors that influence your risk factors include pregnancy, reflective surfaces such as snow, water, sand and concrete, tropical locations, the season, the altitude, your geographic locations, ozone holes and of course, the very obvious, length of exposure to the sun.

In order to prevent melanoma then, our goal is to protect ourselves from the UV rays that cause this cancer.

UV radiation comes not just from the sun.  It also comes from tanning beds and tanning lamps, so obviously one big way to help prevent melanoma is to avoid tanning beds and lamps.  You may have heard that tanning beds give off only the “safe” of UV radiation, but there is no such thing as safe UV radiation, and in fact, many studies say that tanning beds may be even more dangerous than the sun’s UV rays

Avoiding midday sun when its rays are the strongest is a crucial step in preventing skin cancer.  For most places, this is between 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Putting on sunscreen, even in the Winter, is important.

You should use a sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15 about 20-30 minutes before going outside. Sunscreen should be generously applied every two hours on the exposed parts of your body, or more often if you are swimming or sweating.  Also, sunscreen ingredients can degrade and lose their effectiveness over time.  If your sunscreen does not have an expiration date, you should never use a bottle that is more than three years old.  Babies younger than six months old should be protected by clothing, versus sun screen.

Another way to protect yourself from harmful UV rays is to wear protective clothing, since sunscreen does not provide complete protection.  And this includes sunglasses and a hat.  You should buy the kind of sunglasses that block both types of UV radiation – UVA and UVB rays.        

One of the sad truths about cancer is that we could do everything right and still end up with this disease.  However, as I previously mentioned, with early detection of melanoma, your chances for long-term survival are excellent. Five-year survival rates for patients with Stage One melanoma exceed 90-95%.  In the later stages of this disease, 5-year survival rates drop to less than 50%.

The American Cancer Society recommends a cancer-related checkup, including a skin examination every three years for people between 20 and 40 years old and every year for anyone over age 40.  You can just make this check-up part of another doctor’s visit, for example if you are going in for a physical.

Paying close attention to the appearance of your moles for possible changes, is a very important way to help protect yourself from melanoma, since early diagnosis plays such as important role in controlling this cancer.

                   Melanomas can be distinguished from normal moles using the ABCDE rule.

 

 

“A” stays for “asymmetry, which is any change in the uniformity or shape of the mole.

“B” stands for “border.”  Look for any irregularity in the margins of the mole or blurring of the borders.

“C” stays for colors, specifically various colors, such as irregular shades of brown, blue, black or loss of pigmentation of a part of the mole.

The “D” stands for diameter.  Watch for an increase in the size of a mole, with a diameter greater than a quarter of an inch, or the size of an eraser head of a pencil.

“E” is for evolution. Any change in your moles should be checked out.

You should become familiar with your skin so that you will notice changes and when you are examining your skin, make sure you look everywhere – and when they say everywhere, they mean “EVERYWHERE!” 

See your doctor if you notice any of these changes:

·       An increase in the size of a pre-existing mole

·       A change in shape or a mole or a mole with irregular borders

·       Oozing or bleeding from a mole

·       Halo formation around a mole

·       Itching, tenderness or pain from a mole

·       Any unusual sore, lump, blemish, scaling or marking on your skin

·       The appearance of a new mole

·       Any new or suspicious lesion on your skin

 

Some people feel that a tan is a sign of good health and vitality, but remember, there is no such thing as a healthy tan. 

If you didn’t know before, you now know the risk factors for getting melanoma.  You know how to help prevent this cancer, and you know what to look for to both detect and hopefully stop the cancer from progressing.

It would be sad to know that you did everything you could to prevent you or someone you know from dying from melanoma.  But I think something sadder than that would be if you did nothing and you died from this deadly cancer, especially when you had the knowledge to help prevent it.

 

P.S. Bruce's two children have grown into beautiful human beings, both inside and out.  He would be a very proud "papa" of both of them!