The Skin Cancer Foundation VS MTV

I am sure you've seen clips of this (horrible) show. Maybe your teenagers watch it. Maybe you've curled up on your couch on a lazy Sunday and watched reruns of the show that promotes "Gym, Tan, Laundry." Maybe you're like me and have refused to suffer through an entire episode of a show that encourages trashy behavior.

*For the record, I'm not a prude. I just think these people act like pure scum bags.

Anyway, let me introduce you to the cast:

Source

They have 3 priorities:

Gym

Tan 

Laundry

The Skin Cancer Foundation has made numerous attempts to convince MTV to include a message about the dangers of tanning before/during/after the episodes of their shows. In 2010 The Skin Cancer Foundation had an intervention with the cast of Jersey Shore on EXTRA where Snooki declared she did not want to die from skin cancer. (Sadly, Snooki must have already forgotten about the intervention because she is tanning and selling her own tanning lotion line now.) In September 2012, The Skin Cancer Foundation reached out again to executives at MTV and were unsuccessful.

If MTV thought The Skin Cancer Foundation would back down, they were very wrong.

According to The Skin Cancer Foundation's official press release , "...the organization requested that MTV include a warning with each episode and in conjunction with the sale of items and activities that promote tanning. MTV refused, prompting the Foundation to file a formal complaint with the F.T.C. in the hope that the Commission would require the use of such a warning." (http://www.skincancer.org/media-and-press/press-release-2013/jerseyshore)

While I have no idea if the F.T.C. will force MTV to include a message on the dangers of tanning, I do applaud The Skin Cancer Foundation for their determination in trying to educate viewers. I'm ashamed to admit that I've caught a few episodes of Teen Mom and have seen the "Safe Sex" ads that have been shown during the episodes. What's different about this? I realize the saying GTL brings in

a lot of money for MTV, but c'mon! 

I think it's safe to say that skin cancer and melanoma warriors around the world are so proud of The Skin Cancer Foundation for their efforts in promoting healthy skin! Way to go!

*If you feel like helping The Foundation, I encourage you to donate. These folks are great! Trust me, I know!

http://www.skincancer.org/giving

The Night I'll Never Forget

Let's start at the beginning. 

What is The Skin Cancer Foundation Gala?

The Gala is the Skin Cancer Foundation's largest annual fundraiser. During the event, organizations and individuals are awarded with Skin Sense Awards in recognition of their achievements in sun safety and skin cancer prevention. 

Why is the Gala so important? 

The funds raised from the Gala are what makes these incredible things possible:  their website, Sun Safe U, and The Road to Healthy Skin Tour. These projects help raise awareness and prevention. To be blunt, The Foundation needs this event to make these events successful, and we need these events to help save lives!

OK, I hear you snoring. On to the fun details of the night...

A car picked us up from our hotel and took us to the side entrance of The Plaza Hotel to sneak in and make rehearsal time. I have never addressed a crowd larger than 20, so needless to say, I was quite thankful for a little practice!

A big thank you to these guys for letting me practice!

Just hanging out before going to cocktail hour! 

The Plaza is very beautiful, don't you agree?!

 

   

Here I am with Mary Stine, The executive director of The Foundation.

She is incredible and fun!

This picture was first seen on The Associated Press!

I'm mixed in with celebrities like Brooke Shields,

Dylan Lawrence, Sam Champion, Jerry Penacoli, 

Real Housewives Aviva Drescher and Alex McCord, etc.

Click here to view the other photos.

or here.

So thankful Mom was right next to me.

She's beautiful, I know.

 

The Real Housewife Alex McCord. 

Sadly, I didn't get to talk to her last night,

but we did get to chit chat a little via Twitter today.

She knows the importance of sun safety!

Sam Champion of Good Morning America and Jerry Penacoli of EXTRA.

Both of these men have battled skin cancer. 

Even the napkins in the bathrooms are beautiful...

The ballroom while everyone enjoyed cocktail hour.

The ballroom once everyone was seated.

Now, do you see why I was nervous?

Then I met this dude,

fellow stage III melanoma warrior,

Jerry Penacoli.

Not only did he force me to eat some of my dinner,

he continued to encourage me throughout the entire night,

and he made me LAUGH!

He really is a nice fella,

and I'm grateful for his support, and the big hugs, last night!

*Click here to listen to Jerry's words after my speech.

Giving my speech. You can watch it here.

I also had the true pleasure of meeting fellow skin cancer warriors. I wish we had thought to take a picture together or exchanged information. Still, I will think of Suzanne as she continues on her clinical trial, and I will allow Richard, stage IV melanoma warrior, to challenge me

to live life to the fullest. Richard only had 6 months to live before he began a clinical trial. He has shown no evidence of disease for a year and a half. The audience was in tears.

I said this in my speech, but I need to say it again: I am so grateful to The Foundation for allowing me such a platform to raise awareness. My friend John reminded me yesterday that a

year and a half ago, I was a scared little girl, a little girl too scared to talk about her experience.

Last night I spoke to people like the beautiful celebrity chef Katie Lee, the inspiring Editor in Chief of SELF, Lucy Danziger, folks from the PGA Tour, and numerous doctors and folks in the medical field.

I helped put a face to melanoma.

I truly appreciate the response I received following my speech. One lady came up with tears in her eyes, insisted on hugging and kissing me. People stopped my on my way back to my seat to thank me. A skin cancer hero in his own right, Rick Fair, Vice President of Oral Oncolytics, Genentech, approached me and said he reads my blog!  This list could go on and on. It motivated me to keep doing what I'm doing...getting the word out there!

It was a humbling experience.

It was a night I will never forget.

It was an experience of a lifetime.

Thank you, The Skin Cancer Foundation, for making it happen.

I will be forever grateful. 

PS) I head in for CT scans tomorrow and treatment on Friday. Fingers crossed I will have good news to report on Friday. <3 

It's GAME TIME!

I am putting the finishing touches on my appearance, I am prancing around the hotel room practicing my speech,and I am trying to hold my anxiety to a minimum.

In other words, I'm freaking out.

Tonight is the night I address 300+ people at The Plaza who are there to support The Skin Cancer Foundation. I sincerely hope my personal experience allows them to see what living with melanoma is really like, and let's face it, I hope it causes them to write larger checks for such a worthy cause!

Now, I leave with you with the final words of my speech:

"When my insecurity about my scars becomes too much,

I remind myself what writer Chris Cleave wrote in his novel, Little Bee. 

He wrote, "I ask you right here, please, to agree with me

that a scar is never ugly.

That is what the scar makers want us to think.

But you and I,

we must make an agreement to defy them,

we must see all scars as beauty.

Because take it from me,

a scar does not form on the dying.

A scar means,

I survived."