I'm one of the owners of WomenOnGuard.com. My name is Martha Z. Martinez and I want to share my story, regarding SUN EXPOSURE! My childhood was spent in Florida and like other kids, I got a nice brown tan! But now, I'm paying for it. Back in the 60's people didn't know better, about sunshine and it's repercussions. Below is what I went through, because I got too much sun outside, as a child...
I was diagnosed with Basal Cell Carcinoma, about 5 years ago. Fortunately it is not the deadly kind, like Melanoma! It started like a pimple on my nose and it kept coming back for a couple years... Finally it got to the point where it wouldn't heal and kept bleeding, so I went to a dermatologist. He confirmed it to be cancerous and not just a pimple, like I thought!
The cancer had spread very deep into my nose, so taking it out and covering it with skin, was not enough. It would leave a deep dent on my nose. I ended up having surgery to fill the hole with my own cells, in order to later place a piece of skin over it. The plastic surgeon had to pull a flap of skin from my forehead and bring it temporarily down to the tip of my nose, like a funnel. Doing this would allow new cells to grow and therefore fill in the void on the tip of my nose. I had that funnel for 3 weeks until my second surgery was done! Needless to say, I was not allowed to lay flat on my bed, because I could bleed out!
On the second surgery, the Dr. brought up the flap of skin and placed it back onto my forehead. Then, he got another piece of my forehead skin and placed it, over the now filled with cells, spot on my nose. He later had to stretch the skin where the little piece was taken from and stitch it back together, on my forehead!
This is what I went through, just because I got too much sun as a kid! ALWAYS wear a hat when you are out in the sun and use SUNSCREEN! If you have children; make them apply sunscreen if they play outside! You don't only get cancer when you are at the beach!
No comments:
Post a Comment