The ABC’s of Skin Cancer

A little-over 30 years ago, I was diagnosed with malignant melanoma.

It was a good-sized growth on my right arm that my wife kept bugging me to get checked out. At the time I was a very busy guy, so ignored her.

I finally agreed to have it looked at when she begged me and asked that I do it for her, adding she was having trouble sleeping at night because she was so concerned.

After checking me out, our dermatologist said there was one growth that didn’t look right and he wanted to have me see a plastic surgeon in the same complex, who was an expert on skin cancers. He actually called him while I was there. I walked to his office and upon my arrival he took a look and said he wanted to take a biopsy. He asked me to setup a time for my to return. When I started hemming and hawing about my work schedule he responded, “then why don’t we do it right now!”

A couple of days later he called me at work and gave me the bad news, or good news if you look on the bright side that it actually saved my life.

They ended-up taking a big patch of flesh off my right fore-arm and the lymph nodes in my right arm-pit, which would tell if the melanoma cells had spread. Fortunately for me and my family, they got it early enough and I am alive today.

So the lesson is, check your moles and unusual growths on your skin and have a specialist look at anything that doesn’t look right. This saved my life, and could save yours too should you get a skin cancer.

Melanoma occurs least often, but is the most deadly, because melanoma cells can travel to other parts of the body and infect those areas.