You've heard it from your mother, best friend and dermatologist: Basking in the sun can cause skin cancer. Still, as the warmer spring days replace the gray ones of winter, you can't help but welcome the weekend by lying sunny-side up on a blanket at high noon, rather than in a shady spot later in the afternoon. So what if you skimp a little on sunscreen, right? After all, you think, the most serious effects you'll see at your age are a few crinkly fine lines, which a retinoid cream can counteract.
That's exactly what Valerie Carvajal wrongly believed all of her life. "The warmth of the sun felt great on my skin—I was never conscious of the effect it was having underneath it," she says. The reality check came at 26, when Carvajal was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma, the most common type of skin cancer. Now, despite three efforts in eight years to eradicate the disease, the battle continues—and it's one she will have to fight for the rest of her life. Scary as it sounds, women like Carvajal are not an anomaly. "The fastest-growing sector of skin cancer is young women under 40 who spend time in the sun and in tanning salons," says James Spencer, M.D., professor of clinical dermatology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. Melanoma, the most lethal form of the disease, is the most common cancer in women ages 20 to 29, according to the American Academy of Dermatology in Schaumburg, Illinois. And the rates of the less often fatal but potentially disfiguring basal and squamous cell carcinomas continue to rise every year.
Last year, SELF ran a story that detailed one woman's skin-cancer scare. We got a huge response via e-mail from women who told us the piece encouraged them to get a professional skin check; some said the information saved their life. And the three you'll meet on these pages offered to let SELF report on their experience to help spread the word about the sun's potential danger. All were diagnosed with skin cancer before age 30. They learned their lesson the hard way. Let them prevent you from making their mistakes.
The outdoors lover
Valerie Carvajal, 33, Austin, Texas
Diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma at age 26
Getting it As a child, I spent my days playing under the hot Texas sun. And although my mother tried to slather me with sunscreen, the results of her efforts would usually wash off in the pool. In college, I was a lifeguard. I rubbed on sunscreen in the morning but rarely reapplied later in the day. These habits, combined with my fair skin, many moles and a family history of skin cancer (both of my grandfathers had it), made me a likely candidate for the disease. But I thought I had at least 50 years before I'd have to worry. Then, at 26, came the bump, a pimplelike growth on the tip of my nose that refused to go away. My derm, Dale Schaefer, M.D., in Austin, removed it for a biopsy but said it was probably nothing given my age. Days later, I clutched the phone in shock as I received the news: basal cell carcinoma (BCC). I had skin cancer.
source : http://www.self.com/
