Better Safe Than Sorry  

Summer is here. Can you feel it? The humidity, the heat, and the sun.

Ooooohhhhhhhhh, the sun...

I consider the largest celestial body in our solar system my closest "frenemy." For years, I've basked under its rays, sometimes (more times than I'd like to admit) foregoing sunscreen in pursuit of the perfect golden tan. As a child, my mother carted me to and from the pool every day in the summer; as a teenager, I worked 40 hours a week as a waterpark lifeguard; now, as an adult, I carefully apply sunscreen to my daughter's sensitive skin, while often skipping my own.

So when a suspicious mole started looking even more suspicious than usual, I panicked. I first noticed some changes in this mole at the end of last summer, before I became pregnant with C. Located where the sun don't shine, it seemed to violate all the "ABC"'s of skin cancer: it was asymmetrical, it had a blurry border and it had a two-toned color.

Of course, you're not supposed to have moles evaluated during pregnancy -- as hormonal changes and swelling can alter a mole's appearance -- so I sweated it out for nine months, eying my moles with increasing fear. At my weakest moments, when I lost all faith, I was able to convince myself that I had melanoma and was surely dying. In my more lucid moments -- which in this pregnancy were few and far between -- I knew I was simply scaring myself unnecessarily. But nothing short of a doctor's "you're ok" were going to alleviate my worries.

Last week, before the start of the summer swim season at our community pool, I finally went to see the dermatologist. Even as I sat in the waiting room surrounded by high schoolers panicked over whether they'd get their acne cleared up before graduation, I was still on edge. Were my questionable moles really something to worry about?

After giving birth, my doctor's complete body scan wasn't nearly as embarrassing as it could have been. While my most-concerning mole did catch his attention, my dermatologist said it wasn't anything to be worried about at this point -- although he did make note of its size, shape and color and vowed to monitor it from here on out.

My diagnosis? Skin cancer free!

As an adopted child and a sun-worshipper, I know my trip to the doctor could have ended much differently. I don't know whether skin cancer runs in my family tree, whether I'm predisposed to melanoma or basal cell carcinoma. I do know that I spent too much unprotected time in the sun; it's a mistake I won't make again.

For this summer, I've stocked up on a good sunscreen -- and not just for the kids. I'll be sporting a hat and a light cover-up for when I'm not in the water. I even indulged myself and bought a tinted moisturizer with 30 spf for daily use.

If you haven't had yourself checked for skin cancer, I'd definitely recommend it. Getting a baseline assessment of your skin when you're relatively young can really help your doctor down the road, giving him something to compare with as you age. Be proactive! Your skin is your biggest -- and some might say, most vital -- organ; take care of it.