May is Melanoma month and it is not a celebration.<\/p>\n
Around the world, there is a celebration at the beginning of May. \u00a0For me as a\u00a0Melanoma\u00a0survivor, it is a month where I give thanks for surviving. \u00a0It is the first day of May that I begin my summer long campaign to share my\u00a0concerns, my knowledge and my experiences with people. \u00a0My goal is to save lives.<\/p>\n
I am not cancer free, but I am free from cancer. \u00a0My advocacy has taken me to many places and I have met many survivors and unfortunately too many people that have lost loved ones, friends, spouces and parents. \u00a0What makes me sad is that they have also lost children.<\/p>\n
The stories are wide and varied. \u00a0Here is just one subject that I hear all to often every May.<\/p>\n
A frantic Mom and \u00a0a concerned Dad asking me for advice for their 16 and 17 year olds respectively.\u00a0 Both the concerned parents were asking essentially the same thing: \u201cHow do I convince my teen daughter that she could wear anything and her skin will still look incredibly beautiful?\u201d\u00a0 Well, as it turned out, this was not just about teen fashion.\u00a0\u00a0 This was about preparation for the prom<\/strong>!\u00a0 It turned out that the biggest issue was caused by the color of the dress and their teen\u2019s steadfast belief that they could not possibly look beautiful in a white dress without tanned skin!\u00a0 To prepare for their prom, both of these teens were insisting on sunless tanning.\u00a0 I realized there must be thousands of parents going through this same drama, trying to win over the peer pressure their teens felt to spend the weeks before prom on tanning beds.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I received these requests for advice, because I am a melanoma skin cancer survivor and a skin health advocate. \u00a0I briefly pondered the fact that I do not \u00a0have a teen son or daughter…and I quickly found myself saying, but if I did I would share with them what I have learned in my life so far.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In fact, being a cancer survivor I have met very brave and fortunate people who have survived advanced melanoma skin cancer.\u00a0 One of the most courageous survivors I have ever met is a young woman named Brittany Lietz.\u00a0 I remember attending a Melanoma Awareness Month community college campus event, where Brittany spoke to an audience of mostly 17-19 year olds.\u00a0 Brittany, a beautiful poised young woman introduced herself by saying she was a 21 year old melanoma survivor and that she had 25 surgeries in the past 2 years.\u00a0 Brittany followed that bombshell by saying; \u00a0\u201cAnd I am here to tell you that it all started with a white prom dress\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 Brittany explained that at the age of 16 she started using tanning beds so that she would have tanned skin to set off her new white prom dress.\u00a0 The problem was that she did not know when to stop and became addicted to tanning-she became a \u201ctanorexic\u201d.\u00a0 Brittany shared; \u201cHere is what you really need to know, the next time you think about spending money on a tanning bed\u2014when you lay down and pull the lid over you—it is just like laying down and pulling the coffin lid over your body!\u201d\u00a0 The collective shudder response like a wave over the audience, \u201cugh you are creeping me out!\u201d\u00a0 Brittany\u2019s response was that she absolutely wanted them to have this kind of reaction!\u00a0 She did not want others to ever have to experience the 8 inch scars and the barrage of surgeries and hospital stays that she had endured.\u00a0\u00a0 Her goal?\u00a0 Simply to educate teens nation-wide based on her personal experience and to save lives. \u00a0Brittany delivered her very informative talk about why melanoma is becoming a young person\u2019s disease. She had facts, statistics and reasons why they should avoid tanning beds and not jeopardize their skin health or future. Brittany shared that in her extensive travels around the country she had never heard a good reason for why people used tanning beds.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Brittany then took questions from her co-ed audience.\u00a0 One young woman asked; \u201cKnowing what you know now, what advice would you give to your own children in the future?\u201d\u00a0 Brittany replied, \u201cHonestly I hope that I live long enough to get married and have children one day.\u201d\u00a0 Like others in the audience I was moved to tears at that point.\u00a0 Brittany softly finished by explaining that if she did have children she would educate them to understand that their healthy skin is their first line of defense and they would learn at a young age how to protect their skin and nourish it every day.\u00a0 Brittany finished by sharing that since she stopped tanning she has received more compliments on her beautiful skin tone than she ever did when she was tanned.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Brittany\u2019s life and story continue to inspire me.\u00a0 I have learned that it is never too late to pass along what you have learned in life so far!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n May is both Melanoma Awareness month and for many Prom Month!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As a founder of Keys my mantra has always been to love the skin you were born with and to wear your natural skin tone proudly.\u00a0 It is no secret that I am tan adverse.\u00a0\u00a0 I am also a melanoma skin cancer survivor and I have had several basal cell carcinoma surgeries. \u00a0Education and early detection about skin cancer will save lives and help young people avoid scars that last a lifetime.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I urge you to watch this video \u201cDear Sixteen Year Old Me\u201d and pass it on to those that you love and care about.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n