May is melanoma awareness month...so just sharing a link that has information about melanoma.
My brother passed away last October from Melanoma...it is a nasty skin cancer....and just want people to be careful if you do go out in the sun.
I always now wear sunscreen and a hat when I do go outside and it is sunny, but mostly try to only go outside earlier or later in the day when the sun isn't as damaging.

http://www.cancerpage.com/promos/melanomamonth.asp

yes please get checked my husband had it on his arm and had surgery and is still still checked ever three months

Thanks for the reminder.

yes please be careful. also watch for spots not ugly-basal cell skin cancer can start out like a white spot, then thicken like scar tissue and look like nothing to some Doctors. ask me how I know!!

I want to highlight the sentence above about wearing a hat and sunscreen when it is sunny, and don't know how to do that. But I want to share that my young grandsons got serious sunburns on a cloudy, foggy day. So severe they needed medical treatment, and had to avoid any sun exposure for a year. So, please protect yourself on cloudy days also.

Thanks for the link! My grandfather struggled with melanoma for years and my whole family is very much at risk. My neighbors think it's hilarious that I garden in long pants, long sleeves and a giant hat, but I'd rather look silly than take a chance.

Yes everyone please get checked. My daughter died of it a year and a half ago-seems like yesterday. Our doctor sent me and my husband to a dermatologist to be checked because my husband had a skin cancer on his back removed a few years ago. I was the one with Melanoma on my back. Funny, I don't go out in the sun if I can help it because I get a headache from the sun,don't go the beach either. Just dumb luck is what the doctor said at the time my daughter was diagnosed. Please get checked to save yourself.

My husband had some places removed on his arm a year ago. Thanks to a fellow he works with who noticed a place and suggested he have it checked! Still having follow up visits. Praise God for His blessings in removing this monster.

Tell everyone you know to be observant and don't forget that tanning beds no answer either!

I had to have a basal cell carcinoma surgically removed from my right shin Oct 2009. I now see my specialist every 6 months & in between if any spots look funny to me. In fact just this past week I went in because of a spot on my forearm that was making me nervous. It is ok, but I will forever remain viligant & keep a watchful eye. Fair skinned, blue eyed blond with my fair share of sunburns as a child...perfect candidate.

i had my basal cell for over 10 years and kept being told it was a lack of pigmentation. i finally had to insist on a biopsy when it was dime size! white, pearlized. nothing like the photos of basal cells at the time.
had plastic surgery too. i've had three more smaller ones removed and lots more stitches since then.
these days the sun isn't anything to play with!

I lost my sister many years ago to this horrible disease. I avoid the sun as much as possible and always wear sunscreen in the summer. I am fair skinned with blue eyes and red hair and burned a lot when I was young. We were always outside and went to the beach a lot. Now I really try to avoid the sun.

My cousin died of Melanoma and his widow and parents started this (actually before he died) to help families deal with the expense of treatment and research.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=169614549759255

It is the Rayz Awareness fun run and they do one in Daytona Beach, FL (his hometown) and in Colorado (where his wife is from) every year. Everyone needs to get checked. There is no cure for Melanoma after it escapes its margins.

The fund is called the Bill Walter lll Melanoma Research Fund and is a worthy cause.

I get basal cell #2 removed in a couple weeks. The 1st one was almost 21 years ago so I have been pretty good about my sunscreen and covering up.

I thought it was weird here though that the Dr. did a biopsy without taking the whole thing then scheduled "root" surgery. In CA the 1st time the Dr. took it all then biopsied so I didn't have to go back and get cut on twice. So I am a little aggraved with the new guy!

Thanks for these reminders.