Wear your sunscreen, kids (Read 1547 times)


Feeling the growl again

     

    And due to the southern hole in the ozone layer...

     Bingo.

    "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

     

    I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

     

      I get so pissed of with people saying sunscreen and sun damage isn't such a big deal. 

       

      I am so glad my mother plastered us with sunscreen and made us wear long cotton shirts in the summer. This was 1970's Ireland but she'd seen skin cancer as a nurse and was terrified we'd have it. And in the summer it was common for people to be hobbling about because their backs or legs were so badly burnt - a break in the rain and they'd burn themselves silly. I have never had a blistering sunburn though I'm very paled skinned. Just because you tan easily doesn't protect you either.

      My hubby goes in every six months because of sun damage. He grew up in southern California and spent too long on the beach. Red hair and pale skinned too. So far nothing has proved cancerous but we're very turned in too changes. I watch my skin like a hawk.

       

      We have three kids. The youngest biological kid is red haired and amazingly white. The older kids hate to be sun screened because it wasn't a priority before they came to us at 9 and 6. The baby has never been in the sun without clothing or sunscreen. Idaho  is not the ideal place for us Irish-Scottish types. Cover -up is our first defense - sun screen secondary. My sister in Australia told me about how many old men she worked with who got their ears trimmed due to sun damage. Stupid looking hats and smelly sunscreen didn't seem so bad after that. I read somewhere it's the burns before 12 that do the most damage but thankfully my eldest at 13 now puts on the sun screen without protest and thinks pale untanned skin is cool. Taught her something in 4 years.

       

      Glad things are going well for your hubby.

       

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      rectumdamnnearkilledem

        smelly sunscreen didn't seem so bad 

         

         

        Coppertone Sport stuff even smells GOOD!  I LOVE that smell. Smile


        Good news--results came back on the lymph node and it was cancer-free...so for now DH has punched cancer in the neck and pooped in its shoe! Big grin  He may still see an oncologist for follow-up and will definitely be getting sorta intimate with a dermatologist to check out all of his freckles and moles on a very regular basis, but it's worth that minor annoyance to [hopefully] not have to go through this again.

        Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

        remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

             ~ Sarah Kay


        Feeling the growl again

          This is great news.  Thanks for the update.

          "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

           

          I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

           

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          rectumdamnnearkilledem

            This is great news.  Thanks for the update.

             

            And thank you for all the info. and well-wishes.  It's really helped mentally over the past few weeks to hear so many knowledgeable people assure us that we caught it early and would likely have a healthy outcome.

            Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

            remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

                 ~ Sarah Kay

            redleaf


               

               

              New Zealand has the highers per-capita incidence in the world of melanoma, Australia is second, due to the re-location of very pasty Europeans to populate there.

               

              My SIL was telling me about something she watched on TED about that - genetics being tuned in to where you are and the sun's strengths etc. I've got to dig that one up.

               

              My good fortune to have Mediterranean blood in me - I don't remember ever burning as a child. Mom's half Polish half Latvian though (you find a blonder paler mix) and I have a ton of moles and so I get inspected toe to head every year. Thoroughly inspected.

               

              MTA: It didn't show up the first time: ZOOMY: WOOHOO!

              First or last...it's the same finish line

              HF #4362

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              rectumdamnnearkilledem

                 

                Polish half Latvian though (you find a blonder paler mix) 

                 

                MTA: It didn't show up the first time: ZOOMY: WOOHOO!

                 

                Yeeehawww!!! Big grin  Heh, I am half Scandinavian blend on my dad's side and on my mom's side a quarter Scot, and a quarter of something else (my mom never learned the ID of her bio dad) pasty.  I actually can tan (usually after getting a little pink)...but I will be avoiding getting any color from here on out.  In 10-20 years when my peers are all wrinkly I will still have youthful-looking skin, so there is that added benefit, too. Smile

                Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

                remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

                     ~ Sarah Kay


                Feeling the growl again

                   

                  My SIL was telling me about something she watched on TED about that - genetics being tuned in to where you are and the sun's strengths etc. I've got to dig that one up.

                   

                  My good fortune to have Mediterranean blood in me - I don't remember ever burning as a child. Mom's half Polish half Latvian though (you find a blonder paler mix) and I have a ton of moles and so I get inspected toe to head every year. Thoroughly inspected.

                   

                  MTA: It didn't show up the first time: ZOOMY: WOOHOO!

                   

                  The risk of melanoma is correlated with skin color.  Melanin in your skin provides protection from UV rays, this is why peoples evolved in areas of high sun developed the darkest skin colors.  However, some of this exposure is needed to produce Vitamin D in the skin so as humans traveled north one hypothesis is that lighter skin colors evolved to balance the protection of melanin with the need to produce Vitamin D.

                   

                  So when pasty white folk move to high-sun tropical regions, you see much higher rates of melanoma as their skin did not evolve to cope with that environment.  Since Australia and New Zealand are predominantly populated with European-blooded folk and also happen to be in an area with decreased ozone protection from UV, you see highest rates there.

                  "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                   

                  I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                   


                  Why is it sideways?

                    Or stay in the shade.



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                    rectumdamnnearkilledem

                      Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

                      remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

                           ~ Sarah Kay


                      I look my best blurry!

                         or wear a big hat! 


                        Great news about your hubby!  

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                        rectumdamnnearkilledem

                          Ha, those are some awesome big hats!  I might have to get him a cheese sombrero...'cause he married this Cheesehead, but also needs sun protection!

                          Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

                          remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

                               ~ Sarah Kay


                          I look my best blurry!

                            This should go on the healthy portable lunch thread!   

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                            rectumdamnnearkilledem

                              This should go on the healthy portable lunch thread!   

                               

                              It could be covered in fruit a la Carmen Miranda!

                              Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

                              remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

                                   ~ Sarah Kay

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                              rectumdamnnearkilledem

                                At his every-6-months-every-inch-of-skin inspection (and I mean EVERY inch...between toes and "other" crevices) DH had a new and suspicious spot removed for biopsy.  We have our fingers crossed that this will not be melanoma 2.0.

                                 

                                If you're not protecting yourself from the sun you're asking for cancer.  If you're actually going out of your way for a tan I think you should get your head checked.

                                Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

                                remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

                                     ~ Sarah Kay