The Media Controls the Mind.

People in the spotlight have the great advantage of making a positive impact on society. They also have the disadvantage of upsetting a lot of people by comments they make. Today, I physically cringed while reading an article about Mike Schmidt’s cancer. The Ex-Phillies great, Mike Schmidt, was diagnosed with stage III melanoma last August. He is just now beginning to discuss his cancer with the public.

Mr. Schmidt has had numerous operations, radiation, and chemotherapy. The York Dispatch wrote that he is going through the third protocol of three different immune system boost treatments and is about a third of the way through the 12-week process. Obviously, he’s fighting melanoma with all he has. We all understand that, respect that, and we wish him well.

Here’s why I started cringing: the article states that the Ex-Phillies great is becoming an unofficial spokesperson for getting ones skin checked. OK, that’s wonderful. However, when discussing the new chapter in Mr. Schmidt’s life, he says, “I can think of a diagnoses that could be a hell of a lot worse. Cancer is a scary thing. Mine’s skin cancer.”

No joke. I cringed. My shoulders tensed. My jaw dropped.

Let me define stage III melanoma: According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, “At this point, the tumor has either spread to the lymph nodes or to the skin between the primary tumor and the nearby lymph nodes.” This means it has gone through the skin. In my opinion, if this has happened, the cancer can no longer be classified as “skin cancer.” It’s melanoma. Stage III malignant melanoma.

Mr. Schmidt also said, "I have to have scans every three months. Who knows what and when and where something's going to come up. That stuff travels around you microscopically. Until you have a year's worth of scans that show no residue and they tell you you're cancer free, all you can do is treat it."

We all know that he's going to always need to be followed, don't we? Sigh.

Please feel free to read this article yourself. Maybe I’m overly sensitive to it all and overreacting (wouldn’t be the first time!), but it sounds to me like Mr. Schmidt needs to be educated a wee bit more on the seriousness of his cancer. 

Maybe he wants to downplay the seriousness of melanoma to the public? Maybe he’s in denial? Or what scares me the most, what if he just hasn’t been clearly informed? But, he, someone who is speaking about his battle with cancer to the media, is doing our cancer, melanoma, not a lick of good. We’re fighting so hard to have melanoma taken seriously, and to see this article, well, it gave me a clear flashback to the many times I’ve been told, “at least you don’t have a real cancer.”

I do have a real cancer.

And, Mr. Schmidt, so do you.

I'd Rather Be Pale...

 ...is music to my ears.

I am the girl who gets excited when I receive an email from an old co-worker who tells me she has scheduled an appointment with her dermatologist. I am the girl who is thrilled when an old enemy emails me just to say she will never step foot in a tanning salon again. I am definitely the girl who loves hearing that her tanning bed loving friends received the A-OK from their dermatologist.

Today is a cold, super windy, lazy Saturday. So, of course, Mr. Spots is playing video games and I am reading and Facebook stalking. Today I randomly came across something that angered me and inspired me.

A girl from my hometown, almost a stranger, had posted that she was going to get a spray tan. The very first comment in response to her status update said something about how spray tans will give you stripes and the person advised, "Just go to the tanning bed." The next comment was the complete opposite. It said something like, "Don't listen to Wrinkles. She'll be sorry when she's 40 and looks like she is 60. Get the spray tan!" The girl who originally posted the status shared my story and said, "I have too much to live for...her story and reading her story opened my eyes...I'd rather be pale than have cancer :)"

Success!

Not only is this young mother staying out of tanning beds, she's also not giving into the pressure of her peers! Woo hoo! This makes me ridiculously excited.


Sometimes when I start to think that sharing my story, posting things far too personal to share with strangers, and annoying my friends and family with "Wear sunscreen!" lectures, I see something like this that makes me remember people are listening.


I know that my purpose is to save others from the hell that is melanoma. I hate that it took an actual diagnosis for me to learn the seriousness of melanoma and to find one of my purposes in life, but I know that this is it. 


I will not stay quiet. For me, remaining quiet about this cancer would be giving in to melanoma and I refuse to ever do such a thing.

Marc Jacobs--