"And Yet I Still Go."

""I smoked before," she said. 

"I stopped, and I don't have lung cancer. ... 

Sun-tanning? I have skin cancer and yet I still go."

 First of all, I admit that I have very little patience with people & addictions. Most of the time when people claim that they are addicted to something bad for them I see it as an excuse for their behavior. It infuriates me when people are not strong enough to make the effort to change their lifestyles. Like pregnant mothers who claim they need to smoke...I understand your body is going through withdraws, I get it, but suck it up. The folks with drug addictions? I have more patience for...I understand your body has an actual addiction to the drug. I guess because I have basically lived a healthy lifestyle, I do not understand how people let themselves reach the point of having an addiction. I would never do cocaine out of fear of my mother. Lord. Anyway, because I am unsure if "tanorexia" really exists or if it is simply an excuse people use to explain why they must go to the tanning bed despite the risks, I have very little patience for this story.

Here is this fair skinned red head who is the typical melanoma patient. You can see how burnt she is in the video. If she had walked into my first oncologist's office, Dr. Bad Mustache, he would have said, "Huh. You look like a stereotype." She has had skin cancer 5 times. The article states, "Greenberg, 40, said she was cancer-free, even though doctors last month had found a recurring site for malignant melanoma." Recurring site for malignant melanoma but yet she still goes tanning?!! Honestly, I think this woman has a serious case of denial. It concerns me! When will reality hit her? Will it hit her when they tell her she has lung mets, brain mets, or liver mets? I absolutely cannot imagine the frustration her doctors must feel. (It is safe to say that I would not be nearly patient or understanding enough to be allowed near this woman without tears & anger.)

It is a fault of mine. When someone behaves like this, I have a very hard time feeling sympathy for them. I want to introduce her to Tina's blog and family. Tina, who fought so hard and still left behind a beautiful daughter and family. I want to introduce her to my melanoma warriors who have had to quit jobs, put their lives on hold, and constantly worry about the next scan result. It seems like to this woman, melanoma is just skin cancer. This frustrates me because it goes against everything I am trying to prove. It makes me wonder if an 18 year old girl watched this episode on ABC, would she notice the obvious denial issues or will she assume since this woman has had 5 experiences with skin cancer and she is still around to tell her story, tanning is not that bad. Is that the message we want to send?

I sincerely hope someone is able to get through to this woman before it is too late.

Siiiiiiiigh.



Sidenote--Thank you to the author of hotelmelanoma.blogspot.com & the 2 anonymous people who have helped me begin my fundraiser for AIM! I truly appreciate it.