Susan's story

My name is Susan and I have been fighting skin cancer for years. I have had two surgeries on my face. One was a Basal cell and the other was a Squamous Cell. The squamous cell was on my bottom lip. Not a good place to have one for sure. I am 72 years old and this cancer was from years ago. I went to the pool almost everyday through the summer all the way through high school and college. We didn't know about sunscreens then, just baby oil and iodine for tanning. I wasn't a laying out kind of girl, but I was in the sun and water for hours each day. I had bad sunburn every summer. Now I am paying for that fun in the sun. I go to the dermatologist every six months. I wear hats and shirts with a 50 sun protection.

For all you young people, please don't go without sunscreen and apply it often when you are outside. Also for the tanning bed group, stop before you do the damage. I know a tan is lovely but if you have to have surgeries because of it, Not Worth It! I will always have problems from the sun damage. I am thankful I haven't had anything worse than the basal and squamous, but they are bad enough.