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  Sue:
Many of us are now looking at our own skin differently. Melanoma is the most
lethal form of cancer and can spread quietly and quickly without a sign. The disease was
in the news last year with Senator John McCain and
more recently from presidential daughter Maureen Reagan
who has developed metastases to the bone and brain from melanoma. The problem is certainly
not just skin deep. Catherine Poole in her book
Melanoma Prevention Detection and Treatment offers us a comprehensive look at melanoma.
From her own personal battle with melanoma as a young woman she shares with us the latest
information in preventing, detecting, and treating this lethal cancer. Also take our skin cancer risk quiz.
John
McCain: Getting It Early
  Senator McCain had suffered from this same cancer in 1993 and had
been under very close care by a dermatologist for suspicious lesions. McCain was careful
routinely saw his dermatologist for an examination every 3 years because of his prior
history with this disease. This practice may have saved his life.
The collective world took a gasp when word of Senator
McCain's cancer was announced. Here was a war hero, a survivor of 6 years of torture in
the death camps of Vietnam. And now he is fighting for his life because of skin cancer,
because of melanoma. This time his predator is both silent and deadly.
McCain, like so many of us spent our youths in the sun.
Back in the 60s and 70s there weren't even sunscreen products on the market. We didn't
have a clue about the potential dangers of the sun. Today most children don't go into the
pool without a lathering of sunscreen.
Maureen
Reagan: Dealing with Metastases
  She was diagnosed with
melanoma, on Dec. 12, 1996. In November 2000, a golf ball-sized malignant tumor was
discovered in her right pubic bone and she underwent 3½ months of aggressive
biochemotherapy treatments at the John Wayne Cancer Institute at Saint John’s Health
Center in Santa Monica.Reagan was stricken with mild seizures on the Fourth of July 2001.
An MRI performed July 6 confirmed two brain tumors. She underwent whole brain radiation
for melanoma in July 2001.
 Skin Cancer Quiz
Catherine
Poole: A Personal Battle
  Catherine Poole in her book
Melanoma Prevention Detection and Treatment offers us a comprehensive look at melanoma.
From her own personal battle with melanoma as a young woman she shares with us the latest
information in preventing, detecting, and treating this lethal cancer.
Her book concentrates on helping the average person know
what to look for and how to treat skin cancer. Her color photos are useful in helping us
determine if one of our moles or "skin tags" are suspicious. She gives us
valuable tools to find, prevent and even cure melanoma.
We all love the sun, but the sun may not love us back.
Take the time to learn more about this little understood
but increasingly
common cancer. Protect yourself and your family.
Thank you Catherine for writing such a helpful book : ).
Sue:
As I read your personal story about melanoma, I kept thinking, " Wow, such a
seemingly little thing really turned out to be a major health crisis." How do you get
people to understand the potential severity of melanoma?
Catherine:
It is tough to get people to understand the dangerous nature of melanoma, and it
is something I work at diligently when I teach kids and adults about it. Relating my story
seems to do the trick, showing the huge hollowed out scar on the back of my leg, and also
talking about a fellow patient dying from melanoma.
Sue:
There are many of us who grew up in the 60s and 70s when there was no such word
as sunscreen or the initials SPF- only baby oil and tanning lotions. How can we now
protect ourselves?
Catherine:
The damage is already done to those of us who grew up when there was absolutely
no awareness of the danger of getting too much sun and when we didn't have sunscreen
lotion. 80% of the damage is done by age 18, both in premature aging/wrinkling and
creating the development of squamous, basal cell, or melanoma skin cancers.. What we can
do to protect ourselves is to avoid the sun's peak hours (10-4) and excessive exposure and
check our skin for any changes. Have your skin checked professionally, by a dermatologist,
once a year if possible. Don't delay in getting suspicious- looking skin lesions checked
out by a doctor . If you have a gut feeling that there is something wrong and the doctor
doesn't, get another opinion.
Sue:
Over the years tanning beds have sprung up all over the country; almost every
strip mall has one. Can regularly using a tanning bed lead to melanoma?
Catherine:
Sun tanning salons will be closed in the near future, I'm not sure which agency
will do so, but the evidence is clear that this exposure is dangerous and likely to cause
premature aging of the skin, and skin cancer and all three types: squamous cell, basal
cell, and melanoma.
Sue:
People are so busy. How do they keep "track" of their moles and any
changes that may occur?
Catherine:
As stated previously, people need to have their skin checked professionally by a
dermatologist or a very astute general/nurse practitioner. Look at the pictures in my book
to learn what melanoma looks like. Do self-checks of your skin when you examine your
breasts monthly, line your partner up too for a check. Be sure to look at the scalp and
back and other areas hidden from usual view.
Sue:
I really liked the layout and way you approach melanoma; it makes a lot of common
sense. What do you think is the most frequently asked question and answer regarding
melanoma?
Catherine:
The most frequently asked question: I have participated in many educational
venues, teaching about melanoma and what always happens is a line of people forms, after
my talk, to have me check something on their skin they are worried about. This means they
don't approach their doctors or nurses, but do recognize a change that worries them. I
will be developing free screenings at several sites (I'm hoping the beach and swimming
pools for a double message affect) that will help with this avoidance, or not wanting or
being able to finance a trip to the dermatologist.
ABCD's of Skin Cancer
Learn the danger signs of skin cancer.
About 96% of skin cancers have a very small cancer of
spreading with only 0.1% of people dying from them. However, a small minority of skin
cancers (4%) are called melanoma and they have a 20% chance of killing you. Learn the
ABCD's of melanoma to diagnose them before they spread too far and take the quiz to see if
you're at risk.
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