Skin cancer

The incidence of skin cancer has increased notably over the last decades 

Friends of mine in the sports car racing have been diagnosed with it recently. Fortunately all have recovered and show no signs of it returning because it was caught early and treated.  

With one exception.  My late wife was diagnosed with an extremely rare skin cancer. Prognoses was good in they anticipated at least a decade before it would become serious. 

She had extremely good health care insurance so they immediately started treatment.  Yet everything they did was like tossing gasoline on a fire. They tried everything including experimental treatments. Towards the end she was taking one particular pill 7 times a day.  Each pill cost $8000 3 years after diagnoses she passed away.  

She is the rare exception have a annual physical and because we racers spend. Great deal of time in the sun hVe your skin carefully looked at, it may save your life.

Your skin is the largest organ of your body, if you get cancer there it's going to suck. I have a friend that is a bricklayer and spends a great deal of time on the scaffolding. He just had a large chunk of his right cheek and eye socket replaced would skin from his arm. If you're out in the sun wear sunscreen and cover-up. Sorry for your loss frenchyd

Basal Cell Carcinoma is one reason I stopped autocrossing 6 years ago.

The other reason was that I didn't miss it after taking a year off to let the repair to heal.

My dad has stage 3 melanoma after having a surgery years ago to remove some spots. Keep getting those check ups! He didnt because no one told him to. Luckily he is in remission right now. 

frenchyd, very sorry for your loss.

As mentioned, sunscreen and cover is your friend.

As a boater of Irish descent, I am very familiar with sunburn.  I don't like the cream types of sunblock, but don't mind the spray types. I have also started buying and wearing the long sleeved fishing type shirts. The wicking type shirts especially are as cool as a regular T-shirt.

I have had a few spots removed from my back and the backs of my legs over the years, but fortunately, so far all have been benign.

Please take the warnings in this thread serious, as it is an easily preventable issue. Cover up and use sunscreen.

And when your particular brand of sunscreen reacts with hard water in the washing machine and puts that orange stripe around the collar, that's rust - use CLR to wash it right out.

Scottish ancestry - I can burn under a 40W bulb.

Im 30 and just had a mole removed that tested as starting to mutate but wasnt yet cancer. Scared me for sure. I spent alot of time in the sun fishing and swimming as a teenager. As an adult im more fond of sunscreen and a shirt.

After getting blood on my pillow case several mornings and getting tired of the wife’s bitching, I went to a dermatologist to look at the scab on my ear.  Turns out it was basal cell.  Took a nice little chunk of skin off.  Later he found a squamous cell spot on my neck.  Now I worry about every spot that shows up.  This is a result of many years outside without sunscreen , hat or clothing.  

I got to have my face carved on for basal cell last year. Caught it with plenty of time. Go enrich your local dermatologist...