June 14, 2006 6:07 AM
Rethinking summer and sun
This was my Close to Home column in the Loudoun Times-Mirror this week. Even though a lot of you have heard this saga already, I'm running it for the benefit of those new to this site. Close to Home is my standing column, which runs biweekly on page A2 of the LTM. With a word count of 475, it is always a challenge to write, but as Mark Twain once said, "I would have written you a shorter letter, but I didn't have the time."
Rethinking summer and sun: A cautionary tale
By Barbara Curtis
06/13/2006Summer will never be the same for Maddy. Not since we went to a dermatologist a couple months ago to get her moles checked.
Twice before I’ve taken her in for checks with doctors who had us in and out in five minutes flat.
But Dr. Khan took her time, chatting and making Maddy comfortable, all the while glancing at the moles visible on Maddy's arms and face. We always called them beauty marks – I actually like the way they look.Advertisement
Now I’m not so sure. Dr. Khan told us the cause is Dysplastic Nevus Syndrome – a condition associated with melanoma. She also explained that while melanoma affects 1 in 60 people, for people with DNS there is a 10 times greater risk – so Maddy has a one in six chance of developing melanoma.While melanoma in children used to be rare, its incidence is rising so fast it is considered an epidemic.
In the U.S., melanoma takes a life every hour. In my 20s, I had a friend who died of melanoma. It was not a pretty sight. But even when Dr. Khan decided to biopsy a large dark spot on Maddy’s foot, I decided not to worry until we got the results.
Then I worried indeed. Because things didn’t look so good. The whole mass needed to be removed. Dr. Dollard took out such a chunk of her foot that Maddy was on crutches for three weeks. I only stopped worrying when the results came back from pathology that they’d captured all the affected tissue.
On a humorous note, since both biopsies were escalated from the local lab to Harvard for review, Maddy now enjoys claiming status as a Harvard girl.
But the rest of the news is more serious. Prevention is now a priority in Maddy’s life. Religious use of sunscreen and hats – even for trips to the mailbox. A screening every six months – so thorough that Dr. Khan even systematically parted Maddy’s hair looking for signs of melanoma on her scalp.
The thing about melanoma is that if it's caught immediately, it can be removed. But because it's extremely aggressive and fast, it can spread inward to other areas of the body rapidly enough to become fatal. Dr. Khan said that if I’d brought Maddy in a year later, she would have had full blown melanoma.
So it's serious business -- but a little less serious if you live preventively.
If you’ve got a kid with lots of moles, look at them under a magnifying glass. The DNS kind have an irregular shape and irregular coloration: They have a darker ring of pigment around them, or a darker spot in the middle that looks like a sunburst.
But there are things only a good up-to-speed dermatologist can spot, so if this column rings any bells for you, hurry your child in to see one soon.
Comments
Having had several biopsies myself, I can sympathize, as can my keloid scars :-P
My brother-in-law, who is confined to a motorized wheelchair, does a lot of reading and has recently fallen upon a fair amount of research exploring why melanoma rates have soared, and soared, and soared, in younger and younger generations of people.
Apparently, even in a place where the ozone is much the same as it ever was, skin cancer rates are just as bad; the possibility being presented that sunscreen's toxic chemicals are being absorbed by the skin into the body and actually increasing the possibility of cancer.
I haven't looked over the studies myself as yet, and thus don't have an opinion, but I'll ask him for his information if you're interested, Barbara. Myself, I would look into buying clothing that has sun protective factors built in--try sporting goods or outdoor stores, such as REI, etc. The sun does penetrate clothing, especially light clothing we might wear more during the summer.
Posted by: Emily | June 14, 2006 10:40 AM
Regarding this topic, I'd like some input on a situation at church. I may be a little too close to the situation to see clearly. Would you or one of your readers care to offer an opinion?
Cancer is very prevalant in both my & DH's family, both the fatal kind of many sorts plus varying kinds of melanoma. Lots of melanoma family members. As a result we know that we need to be extra cautious with our children (3-year old triplets), and we are. We do NOT allow our children out *in the sun* during the hours of 11:00 to 2:00 for more than a few minutes, if even that much.
The problem is, our church has an outdoor playground for the 2 and 3-year old Sunday School classrooms; there is no shade available. They let the kids out to play right during the hours when the sun is at its highest & most intense and it's hot as blazes (so the children get overheated). To me this is just irresponsible, but when I've approached the SS personnel (more than once, more than one person) they basically fluff me off. Last year one of our girls got a mild sunburn from Sunday School, which really ticked me off. Just this past Sunday when DH & I went to pick up our kids the entire class was out in the hot, intense sun. All of the children were sweating and extremely pink from the sun & heat. And yet not a single Sunday School worker thought there was anything wrong, not even the director. DH & I really got ticked off, and honestly this scares me (the kids being outside, not DH being ticked off). Our son was so overheated that when we brought him inside and had him sip some water he threw up.
I'm really at a loss as far as what to do. We could tell the SS staff that our kids are not allowed outside anymore, but A) I don't trust that they'd follow through (maybe I'm a tad paranoid), and B) I suspect that's going to totally anger our children that everyone else gets to go outside but them. The other option is to not take the kids to church at all, which means that DH or I will not be attending church. Neither of these options seems appealing or reasonable, and yet I don't know how else to think. The notion of having the children in worship service with us is completely not possible, not with three active & robust 3-year olds, not if we wish to have any hope of catching a single word of the sermon. I don't even want to think about it!
So like I said, maybe I'm too close to this situation to see it clearly. Is there another option? Is there some way I can "convince" or "educate" the SS personnel that it's not okay to let small children outside during the peak sunburn hours, nor is it okay to allow children to get so overheated that they throw up? I'm pretty scared that my kids are going to get one of those childhood sunburns doctors say ends up causing skin cancer. I don't want that to happen because we took them to Sunday School!
Posted by: Tulip | June 14, 2006 12:25 PM
I babysit a little boy who is very fair. His mother kindly insists that he have sunscreen and a hat if we go outside and neither I nor any of his other babysitters have ever balked at that notion! Maybe your SS personnel are just young with that fearless attitude that being under 30 most people seem to have. Go to someone older, in charge, and be firm about your kids wearing whatever protection they need, and about the whole crowd having a shade and drink option. Don't quit going to church over something like this.
Incidentally, on a school fieldtrip to an historical re-enactment site, we learned about (and the kids tasted) "Switchel" (?) an old-fashioned drink (maple syrup, milk, etc?) wives used to take to their men who were working in the hot sun. The demonstrator remarked: "Water will make you sick to your stomach if you're too hot. That's why we don't take them water"...
Posted by: floorplan | June 15, 2006 9:25 AM
Thanks for this important reminder to see a dermatologist regularly. I had a similar incident two years ago, but we moved shortly after and haven't found a new dermatologist here. I need to get my husband and I in ASAP (my daughter can wait I suppose, since she only recently got her first freckle). I have been religious about putting sunscreen on her - I know I should take just as good care of myself.
Posted by: Amy | June 15, 2006 10:35 AM
My dad died from melanoma at 47. I was 24. This post is important and reminds me that I intend to mention it on my blog, too.
As for the SS situation (in above comments), talk to the pastor. That's what I would do.
Posted by: Mel | June 15, 2006 6:20 PM
Maybe take a proactive solution: start a fundraising drive to buy shade canopies for the playgroun. I just know that at our church stuff is a lot more likely to get done if the person with the complaint has a solution in mind and is willing to do the work to get it in place. Then all the kids would benefit!
Posted by: Jessica | June 17, 2006 11:02 PM
