It is interesting that May is melanoma awareness month. Why is it interesting....well you see...no one wants to raise awareness of the non-melanoma cancers...at least from what I can find on the web. Granted there are some really awesome web sites dedicated to basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma but they are not as widely read as sites dealing with melanoma. I get it...melanoma is one of the most deadliest forms of cancer around and I must admit that I was relieved when my doctor told me that I had non-melanoma skin cancer but when nearly 2,000,000 people a year (and those numbers are truly best guesses according to the most recent American Cancer Society statistics) are diagnosed with bcc or scc shouldn't we be doing more to raise awareness of these two cancers as well. You see, the numbers are a best guess because no one (not even the ACS) requires reporting of bcc/scc cases annually. Some dermatologist do report their cases but there are not any official statistics anywhere.
I am certain that I have people throwing things at their monitors right about now because it would seem that I am casually tossing aside the seriousness of melanoma.....that COULD NOT BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH! I was a cancer warrior long before my diagnosis with bcc and will continue to be a cancer warrior for anyone who has any type of cancer. As noted in an earlier post, I lost my Mother to breast cancer in 2003 just when she should be enjoying life with watching her grandsons mature in to awesome young men....she missed a baseball state championship, she missed a high school graduation, she missed the first full year of high school marching band (and how she loved marching bands).....and so on. I get it and I will do everything I can to help fight cancer. I just think there should be more awareness out there for the non-melanoma cancers.
So, instead of complaining about it I am going to use this blog to raise awareness starting today. Did you know that once you have a diagnosis of bcc or scc you are at an increased risk of developing melanoma? The National Cancer Institute has an interesting page on melanoma at this LINK. The page was last updated in 2008 but a lot of the information still seems relevant. I am going to be even more diligent about checking and tracking any moles on my body now that I have had bcc.
Tune in here for more current and up to date information on basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas. If I have to become a one man campaign to raise awareness I certainly will!!
If you would like to help me fight cancer, please donate to my ride by visiting my fundraising page: Terry's Fundraising Page
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