Sound Advice

I read an article the other day citing a study from Nancy University in France stating that some multi-vitamin pills containing vitamin E, ascorbic acid, beta-carotene, selenium and zinc increase the risk of malignant melanoma.  Ironically, during a visit to my general practitioner last month, I asked about whether or not I took too many supplements and vitamins.   For the most part, he supported my intake with only minor warnings for overuse of a couple supplements.  Overall, he didn’t completely didn’t completely debunk this study, but he seemed to think that there were far more studies supporting the individual benefits.  

It has been stated that “data” can be manipulated to benefit any side of an argument.  I’ve also heard it be said that any point of any argument can find some quote or passage from the Bible to back it up.  I have to believe the same is true of all the studies published or discussed about almost any medical issue.  The study in France was not about melanoma, but of whether or not multi-vitamins served any benefit to people at all.  In short, the study stated that there was no benefit, and in fact there were some statistical relations with increased melanoma risk as I mentioned above.  I would guess that further medical studies should be performed to validate this finding as my doctor implied.

I also read a letter in the Calgary Herald from a gentleman citing research from the UK which found no evidence for sun bed use as a risk factor for melanoma and only a small non-significant increased risk for those under 25.  Of course, this counters many other studies I’ve read from many reputable sources that state that tanning beds can be a direct contributor to melanoma.

Several melanoma survivors and warriors have issued warnings to others to not do your own research on the medical specifics of melanoma.  I have to agree with that.  For one thing, the true experts…your doctors, dermatologists and oncologists and their staffs are the ones that deal with your situation every day.  They are human and may not be perfect, but they are far more focused and informed than a large majority of internet articles and bloggers…including yours truly.

What I’m trying to say is, you can find any study which supports exactly what you don’t want to read, and yet you can find the same to help give you confidence.  The important thing is to always, ALWAYS confide in your doctors.  Ask them the questions…ask them to validate or debunk the article you’ve read.  Listen to other warriors who have been there as they share their experiences, fears and struggles…but always seek the medical advice from the professionals.

And that’s my advice for the day.

Don't Be Missed

Another Christmas has passed without my brother, Jeff.  He is included in so many holiday memories…from the EARLY Christmas mornings where we’d sneak around checking out Santa’s gifts, to the infamous Christmas golf ball, to more standard memories.  This year, more than last, he was truly missed.

He passed away in November last year…about the same time we all start decorating our houses for Christmas.  The post-funeral mourning sort of meandered its way into the holiday season…so missing him last year was more like an extension of his initial passing.  But this year, Christmas showed up with no pre-Thanksgiving grieving, but with the normal fanfare and anticipation that only one’s children can amplify to the most enjoyable levels.  No, this year we’d have no grieving period.  But damn was he missed.

Don’t get me wrong…I had a fantastic Christmas with my immediate family.  Santa confirmed to my kids that they were indeed good this past year…to record spoiling (and bankruptcy) levels.  The food prepared was delicious and filling.  And the company of my wife’s family visiting for Christmas dinner was excellent as always.  We always keep it simple and have ham sandwiches (real ham…not Oscar Meyer deli meat), three bean salad, potato salad…almost as if it were a summer picnic.  After dinner we exchanged gifts.  We surprised my in-laws by having their old 8mm home movies converted to DVD.  This of course spawned all sorts of stories of Christmases and relationships of the past.  This was exactly like the type of conversation Jeff and I would have had.

I laughed at their stories and had genuine interest of the various uncles and their hijinks of yester-year.  But deep inside, I missed my brother.  I wasn’t grieving any more…I was just missing him.

I’ve been suffering from blogger’s block lately because, frankly, I’ve had nothing but family and “Jeff thoughts” of late.  My intent in this blog was never to be a Jeff Grieving site…but to be an outlet to create awareness for skin cancer.  So in that regard, let me add one melanoma-related thought.

Melanoma kills people.  It kills family.  It makes those family members be missed.  To keep your loved ones from grieving your illness or your death, do what you can to prevent this mostly- preventable form of cancer.

Don’t be missed.

Ignore the Boundaries

My Facebook page “Likes” have surpassed 800.  Thank you SO much…I never would have thought that a few months ago that I would even have 20 people following my page.  It means a lot.

One of my personal traits (quirks most likely) is that I tend to make lists.  I can make a great list of projects (and not complete one), Christmas gifts (but hate to shop) and just random stuff.  For my Facebook page, I started to keep a list of all the people that have “liked” it.  All 800 plus!

I recently modified the list a bit and included where folks live.  Many people keep such information private on their Facebook page (I don’t blame them), but I still have a pretty good idea how widespread the readership has reached.  By my count, I’ve been visited by at least 33 states and 10 countries! My Blogspot statistics show that I've had nearly 15,000 pageviews fomr even more countries.  Amazing!  Honestly, it’s not the location of “likers” that amazes me, but the diversity of the people.

I’ve been very pleased to see teenagers follow our words, and humbled by compliments from those who are more elderly and wiser than me.  There are people who have very strong Christian faith, those who follow other faiths as devoutly, and some that follow no set religion at all.  I’ve seen photos of heavily tattooed or pierced individuals, and images of pure untouched innocence.  And I’ve sensed great wealth from a few and financial hardship from others.  All these people from all walks of life are brought together by one thing.  Melanoma

That nasty sneaky brutal son of a gun…melanoma…has proven to be a force to bond across many boundaries.  While the Beast prefers lighter-toned skin and the practices of tanning addicts, it still touches all races.  It bows to no higher power as it invades people of any religion or belief.  It ignores any age difference.  It has no political preference as I’ve seen it affect conservative tea partiers and liberal occupiers.

Unlike forces of nature like earthquakes or tsunamis, melanoma feels far more personal to those who have been attacked.  A storm may affect hundreds in an isolated area, but the disease has a way of affecting thousands worldwide while still feeling like it’s picking on the one person.  The only way we can beat it is use its own power against it. 

Melanoma ignores boundaries and so should we.  We need to bond together as individuals spread around the world to raise awareness and fight this thing.  We must forget whether or not the person next to us worships in the same house, has a different sexual orientation, or is more or less well-off than yourself.  It’s time to clasp hands and join as one to fight melanoma.  It’s a lesson that the disease itself teaches us. 

Ignore the boundaries.

Mrs. BITNP

I don't like this one

I’ve not really introduced my family to the BITNP gang.  I suppose I tend to keep my personal life private…even though this is a forum where many folks share some pretty personal stuff.  Still, I try to keep this blog related to Melanoma and Skin Cancer Awareness with occasional personal stories of my brother Jeff who inspired this campaign.  But today, I’ll take a moment to talk about my wife Kim.

I won’t share much…she’s shy that way and would probably rather me just keep quiet.  But she’s allowing me to share a recent experience.  Like me, she’s blonde-haired, fair-skinned and rather “moley”…and she also used to lifeguard during the summers years ago.  I guess in this case, likes attract. 

I had encouraged her to see her dermatologist for quite some time.  She’s had acne and Rosacea issues in the past, but I was more concerned about a few spots on her back and arms.  (I wonder from where I got that paranoia?)  She finally went for an appointment about 2 weeks ago.

She told me in the evening that a “spot” had been cut out and that the doctors were taking a look at it.  Having read many of your accounts, I looked forward to receiving a simple voicemail or letter that said everything was fine.  What we got was a voicemail to call the office back.  Naturally, I got a little worried.

It turns out it was an atypical mole…a dysplastic nevi.  As many of you know, this is something “to keep an eye on”…and I know that many of you simply have the doctor cut it out.  We trust this dermatologist, so for now, we’ll keep a very close eye.  I took photos and measurements of several moles and she has a return visit scheduled in three months.  This seems aggressive behavior for “a mole”…but I’m glad it’s being taken.

Kim doesn’t share the same interest or fascination with Facebook and online networking as I…so she’ll probably rarely be online.  But I told her that this group of individuals…fellow Molemates and BITNP’ers …is one of the best groups of people from whom to gather info and support.  Still, I’ll most likely be her voice here and I hope that I won’t have much to say.  I hope it continues to be “just a mole.”  

Melanoma: Prevent It!

My name and “the Big C” was mentioned in the same breath about 6 years ago.  I was at the most fun part of my annual physical (smirk) when the physician’s assistant said she felt a large lump on my prostate.  After she let me pull my pants up and limp back to the exam table, she told me that I should see an urologist as soon as possible.  About two weeks later, I visited Mr. Long Fingers and he confirmed the same finding…a big ol’ lump.  He scheduled a biopsy within the next couple of weeks to see what could be found.  After fishing around (literally…it felt like fish hooks), he announced a few weeks later that the results were confusing at best.  He wanted to go fishing again with a bigger pole.  After I submitted double the samples and implanted my finger prints onto the metal exam table, we met again another few weeks later.  The results were negative…thank goodness.  Then he muttered…”but the previous confusing results suggest that you are very high risk for prostate cancer.  I wouldn’t be surprised if you had it when you turn 50.”

I’m 49 now.

When I first entered this phase of my life, I did a lot of online reading about prostate cancer.  I think we all do that when we receive some type of new information.  But after he cleared me and announced my potential for revisiting the fishing-hole exam room, I started to read up on prostate cancer prevention.  What I found was, except for a few supplements or vitamins, the best way to prevent prostate cancer was eat right and exercise more.

Okay…fine.

I can’t say I’ve followed the advice closely.  I’ve tried to eat better and tried to exercise more, but like most other people, I could do better.

But I digress.  My point is there really is no prevention for prostate cancer.  And as I have read a little about other cancers, including breast cancer, the same preventative measures are listed.  Eat right and exercise more.   Cancer in general is just a mystery.  That’s why millions a year are spent on research to find out what causes the disease.  This goes for all cancers…with the possible exception of one.

Melanoma.

There are a variety of possible causes for melanoma, but the one main undeniable cause is exposure to UV radiation.  This includes UV rays from the sun and those obtained in tanning beds/booths.  Does this mean that everyone that uses a tanning bed or sunbathes on the beach will get skin cancer?  No.  Did most people (greater than 3 out of 4) that was diagnosed with melanoma get it from exposure to UV rays?  Yes.  We’re talking 75% of the people that have melanoma today probably would not have it had that done one thing in the past.

Prevented it.

And not from simply eating right and exercising more.  They would have prevented it by avoiding the sun’s ray by wearing protective clothing or sunscreen and by staying the heck away from tanning beds.  Right now, we lose about one melanoma patient an hour…24 per day.  Had the 75% that had melanoma due to UV rays simply avoided it by protecting themselves, 18 people would not have died from the disease today.

There have been great strides in treating various cancers and we hope that one day, there is a cure for all.  But until that day, the best way to remain cancer –free is to not get it at all.  There’s no set rule for most cancer…but for melanoma and skin cancer, there is.  Do yourself a favor by wearing sunscreen and avoiding tanning beds.  You CAN prevent melanoma.

It's Been a Year...But I Know He's Watching

I have incredibly mixed emotions about today, November 15.  I’m greatly saddened that my only brother passed away from melanoma one year ago today.  And yet, in carrying on his campaign to raise melanoma and skin cancer awareness, I have “met” so many wonderful people and felt that I’ve contributed to the cause and grown as a person.  Don’t get me wrong…I would trade this great experience with BITNP in a heartbeat to have Jeff back.  But alas, that’s not to be.  So today, I choose not to commemorate his death, but honor the life he’s continued to instill in me.  I miss him…and think of him every day.  But I also know that he’s with me.  In fact, he told me so.

I used to keep another blog...one that shared random thoughts.  Some were funny…some were touching…many sucked.  But I enjoyed writing.  I never really knew what to write about...only that I enjoyed sharing my thoughts.  I had no real focus to my work, and I really only had one full time reader.  That was Jeff.  His passing is one reason I haven’t written in that blog for about a year.  My last posting was about…well, I’ll let you read it.  I’ll edit it a little, but the following is basically what I shared about a year ago:

If you’ve read some of my Facebook postings, you know that I engage in a hobby known as geocaching. Basically, geocaching is a global scavenger hunt. The location of hidden objects can be found on the website, Geocaching.com. If you type in an address and find the link to a map, you’ll see that there’s most likely a hidden object nearby. There are about 5,000 “treasures” hidden within a 10-mile radius of my house. In fact, there are well over a million such treasures, or caches, hidden world-wide from county parks or city blocks and even the International Space Station. I bet there’s one near you!

Caches are rated 1 to 5 for both difficulty and terrain with 1 being the easiest. Seeing as I’m not a rock climber or scuba diver, I tend to look for ones rated 1.5 or easier. Whenever I travel out of town, I can load the latest cache locations into my GPS along with previous logs from other geocachers and a description of what I’m looking for. Caches can range in size from smaller than a thimble to a rather large water-proof box. I’ve found all sorts, although there are some types that are more common than others.

A 35mm film canister makes a perfect geocache container. Other geocachers hide the caches for others to find. One simply places a log inside for geocachers to record their find and perhaps adds a coin or little trinket as a reward. All caches contain a log on which the finder will sign his or her geocaching name (mine is MountieAl). Most small caches contain only a log. The “treasure” is in the hunt itself, not the end prize. Anyhow, one takes this small container and hides it in a tree stump or other such place. One very common hiding location is within a light pole in a parking lot. Most poles have a metal or plastic skirt at the base of the pole which can easily slide up, thus making a perfect hiding place for smaller caches underneath. And yes, most cachers will giggle when announcing they’ve found a cache “under a skirt.”

Jeff read a few Facebook postings of my initial geocaching finds and asked me about the hobby. After I described it, he started looking for some in Ohio, especially while walking his dog. I remember the first day he found one…he called me on his cell phone asking questions and giving me updates. He was so thrilled at the first find, and I could tell he was hooked. “Jadestep” was introduced to the geocaching world. As he always did with things that interested him, he quickly became very involved in the hobby and even helped organize a few Geocaching gatherings. He started to become one of the more involved geocachers in the Akron area.

When Jeff and I attended my step-mother’s family reunion in June, we made sure to go on a Hurricane, WV area “cache run” together. We found about eight caches that day…a record for me at the time. When we finished, my dad commented that geocaching was the first thing Jeff and I had done “together” in a long, long time. And it was true…somehow this silly little hobby bonded us closer than we’d been in years.

During that trip, Jeff commented that he had wanted to hide his own on a guardrail near the Walgreen’s in Hurricane. He always liked puns and many geocaches were given such titles which would also offer up a clue to the hide. His idea for this cache was “Guarding the Wal.” Jeff was always quite clever. Sadly, he never got to hide that cache.

Before I traveled to WV for Jeff’s funeral, I loaded the caches along my travel route into my GPS as I usually do. Granted, I had no intention of making this a caching trip, but seeing as how he loved to geocache, I thought it appropriate to be able to find one or two during the trip...perhaps at a rest area along the highway or near a restaurant during a lunch or dinner break. But honestly, my mind was far from caches as I drove up the day before his funeral.

On the morning of the funeral, I decided to take the car out to fill up with gas while the rest of my family prepared for the somber day. As I drove past that Walgreen’s in Hurricane, I noticed an icon on my GPS indicating a newer cache had been hidden near the drug store only a couple weeks prior. Again, I hadn’t planned on seeking any caches, particularly on the day of Jeff’s funeral, but curiosity got the better of me. I drove past the guardrails and into the parking lot. The GPS directed me to a light post on the parking lot edge, with a sign attached stating “Area Under Video Surveillance.”

I pushed a few buttons on my GPS to read about the cache and look for any clues. What I read gave me chills. I jumped out of the car, lifted the skirt (giggle) and grabbed the 35 mm film canister. There was only a log inside, as suspected, and I signed it “MountieAl for Jadestep.” I returned the cache to its hiding place for others to find and then sat back in the car with my heart racing. Tears started to well up as I drove off.

It wasn’t the content of the cache, nor even the coincidental location of this geocaches that had me rattled.  It was the title of this geocaches that had me shaken…and yet smiling.  The name?

 “Big Brother Is Watching.”

(true story…100%)

So you see, my brother DID tell me that he’d be with me.  He’s watching my life’s path and guiding me.  And that’s why on this day…a day that marks a year since feeling great sadness, I feel great joy and confidence.

I miss you big brother…now let’s go find another cache.

A History Lesson

“You’ve come a long way baby!”  Remember that slogan?  It was for Virginia Slims cigarettes…a tobacco product marketed for women.  The concept was that smoking was traditionally a man’s privilege, but not a woman’s.   However with Virginia Slims, smoking was not only acceptable, but fashionable and chic.  “You’ve come a long way baby!”  (Check out the old TV ad)  It was a successful marketing campaign that echoed the Women’s Rights movement of the 60’s and 70’s and probably created many fashionably sick women.

But women weren’t the only demographic targeted for smoking needs.  Remember the Marlboro Man?  What better icon of masculinity…complete with cigarette in his mouth.

As we look back now, I think most of society realizes the fallacy of such claims.  Smoking leads to lung cancer or other devastating health conditions…it was a bad thing and still is.  Of the friends I have that smoke, every one of them has muttered “I need to quit someday” as they light one up.  It’s a bad habit…it’s a proven medical killer…and even the smokers know it’s a bad thing.  My mom smoked practically all her life.  Bel-Air was her brand.  She died in 2005 of lung cancer.

I know this is a skin cancer and melanoma blog site, but it’s also Lung Cancer Awareness Month.  This cancer is the biggest cancer killer.  And it’s possibly the nastiest of all.  Please keep those we’ve lost or those struggling with the disease in your thoughts and offer support of some sort.  And don’t blame them for smoking…it used to be the fashionable thing to do.

I’d usually stop my thoughts here, but I’d like for you to think about lung cancer a little longer…and the parallels to melanoma.  Smoking was fashionable.  Tanning IS fashionable.  The tobacco industry was quick to point out the “cool” aspects of smoking.  The tanning industry currently touts the cosmetic benefits of a glowing tan.  Years of awareness campaigning and class action lawsuits made all of society realize the truth about smoking…even the current smokers realize it’s a bad habit.  What about tanning and its relationship to melanoma?  Is it time to repeat history?