Don't forget the sunscreen---USE CAUTION

I've spent much of my life in the sun and never gave much thought to wearing sunscreen. I guess I was in that "Aw, it won't happen to me."

Well, last year during my physical my doctor suggested I visit a dermatologist to get some areas of my face checked out. I did, and had a Squamous Cell Carcinoma removed--one from my scalp, right at the top of my head. Since the scalp is not very elastic so they had to remove a large (50 cent piece size) section of skin from the back of my neck to do a skin graft for the top of my head.

I then went through a series of treatments where they used a combination of a very bright light and a crème to burn off some sun damaged skin cells. That hurt like hell but it seemed to work.

I went back in for my last checkup and the doc wanted to biopsy two areas from my face, one up near the top of my forehead on the right side and another in front of my right ear. Both came back positive for Squamous Cell Carcinomas (SCC).

Fortunately for me, SCC's are not cancerous so the "danger factor" is relatively low.

Yesterday I went in to have the one on my forehead removed. They cut it off, then biopsied around the edges to make sure they got it all. Then they sewed it back together. The forehead is not very elastic either, so they have to cut the skin away from the tissue beneath it. They cut it loose so they would have enough of the elastic skin to pull together to stitch it together.

They take pics before and after and I asked them to take pics with my phone so I could make this thread. The next time you think you don't need sunscreen, pull this thread up and take a look at it. Oh, and for the record, I now use a spray sunscreen with an SPF of 110.





So here I sit in my robe. I've had an ice pack on my forehead for most of the last 24 hours and I'm taking some codeine for the pain.

And yes, I will probably have a scar when this heals.

Ouch! I hope this ends well and wish you all the best. It is a timely warning to all,especially those with Euro skin pigments living in areas of strong sun and enjoying boating.
For years, Australia, the melanoma capital of the world, has pursued a "Slip,Slop,Slap" campaign:
Slip on a shirt.
Slop on sunscreen.
Slap on a hat.
The response has been sufficiently successful Vitamin D deficiencies have been seen.
Regular medico skin checks are a good idea. And I thought a carcinoma was a carcinoma, definitely something to be concerned about, least of all for scar potential.
Melanomas are especially dangerous and malign,once established they can reappear internally in places you least want. And they are not all sinister black in appearance; there are less common pink ones, hard to detect. Detected too late in a good friend < 40 years, with a wife and three children.
The strategy is prevention and later on, vigilance. Often the damage is done in teenage years, later it is a matter of damage control.

Yikes. Warning duly noted, Sir!

MurrayM said:

Yikes. Warning duly noted, Sir!

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Kitimat? Sun? Surely you jest.

I spent a few months there on separate occasions. When an occasional glow appeared in the sky, people came out of their houses and pointed at the sky in fear and trepidation.

Northern Spy said:

Kitimat? Sun? Surely you jest.

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Oh, crap...right. Damn vitamin D deficiency is making me delusional again.

Must...hang...on...until...winter...solstice...

Fair skinned

My skin is already showing signs of damage. I now see the value in a pilothouse boat/ Full Canvas enclosure.

Not just sun screen but cover also, hats, long sleeve shirts/pants. We both have spots the doctors check as being a live aboard we get a lot of UV rays, even on cold cloudy days. I have had several spots removed, by freezing them as they where getting big and ugly. Before summer I will have several more removed, most are on my shoulders and arms.

In the summer to at least look tan we use the sunless tanning lotion and also lighter in the winter to give a health glow/look. We are very glad we bought a pilot house with no fly bridge as we would not use it. When the sun comes out we look for cover.

Being a native Floridian,I have had lots of sun exposure over the years. I visit the dermatoligist every 3 to 6 months and almost always have a number of spots frozen. Forutnately, I have only had to have one SCC cut out on my arm.
We always use lots of sunscreen and always wear hats.

Nimble1 said:

Being a native Floridian,I have had lots of sun exposure over the years. I visit the dermatoligist every 3 to 6 months and almost always have a number of spots frozen. Forutnately, I have only had to have one SCC cut out on my arm.
We always use lots of sunscreen and always wear hats.

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For the smaller ones I been using the wart freeze stuff you can buy at the drug store over the counter. Very easy to do/use and a lot cheap than going to the doctor. The freeze creates a blister so the dark spot can be lifted off in a couple of days. the small are just surface.

All year around we were cowgirl/boy hats. In the winter water proof felts hats and in the winter straw/vented hats. We are known for our cowgirl/boy hats.

Phil, while I guess that might work, I trust my Dr's training at spotting potential trouble spots better than mine..LOL
I have lost friends to melanomas because they didn't go to the dermatologist. Just not worth it in my opinion.

This does sound like a good argument for pilothouse trawlers as opposed to a flying bridge where I like to perch. My sympathy to the original poster who has done every reader here a service through his reminder. I hope everything works out in your favor. For others, future standard operating procedures should include:
> a bottle of high SPF sunblock readily at hand (and actually use it)
> a hat with a brim or even one of those the sailboaters use with neck protection
> overhead shade or bimini top
> conscious calculation of exposure times
I remember being told years ago that when you think you have had enough daily sun exposure; you have already had too much

This pretty much describes the routine I have followed for a long time, but I intend to do so with even more urgency in light of this thread.

I have no pictures of my condition to share with the forum. My sun damaged ears manifested themselves at 39 years old. The culprit was a lifetime of working outdoors in baseball style hats. Baseball hats do not provide needed protection gents.

As has been mentioned by others, full brim hats are the only ones worth wearing outdoors. My ears have healed in the last 5 years through diligent use of full brim hats and sunscreen. If I go outside without that protection it takes less than 3 days to remind me why it's needed. My ear tops start feeling like an aligator skin.

One of the things I liked about our boat (and still do) was the large bimini over the flybridge. One of the first things I did after buying the boat was having a similar size bimini made to go over the cockpit.

As a fair-skinned, red headed, blue eyed Irishman, I can't take too much sun. All the things that ColonyCove mentioned are things I do on a regular basis. Well, at least I started doing them this past summer.





I feel that if one person gets the message as a result of my post, it will have served its purpose.

I rarely wear sunscreen, but I go see a dermi every year. No problems at 47.

Greetings,
I'd wear one...


...and I don't mean this as a joke!

GonzoF1 said:

I rarely wear sunscreen, but I go see a dermi every year. No problems at 47.

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Gonzo, you are so young. Let's hope you don't/haven't spent too much time on that sundeck...or give it a few more years....and yes, definitely keep having that yrly check.

I grew up in Hawaii and never used sunscreen, nor did anyone else I knew over there. Moved to Seattle in 1979 and haven't seen the sun since so I guess it's a non-issue for me.

We don't run the boat from the flying bridge (not anything to do with sun, however) and its usually raining so I wear long-sleeved shirts pretty much all year as well as long pants. In fact I don't think I even own a pair of shorts anymore.

Marin it's still worth visiting the dermatologist. They say melanomas develop from sun damage that happened before age 18. Not sure if that is still accepted as correct but worth a visit to the derm for a consult.

I had two pre cancerous moles removed in my early 30s. Clean skin checks since. I love being in the sun though. Melanoma will probably get me in the end.

Marin said:

I grew up in Hawaii and never used sunscreen, nor did anyone else I knew over there. Moved to Seattle in 1979 and haven't seen the sun since so I guess it's a non-issue for me.

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My worse sunburn was during an overcast day, in my early teens floating on an inner tube on a lake in NW Iowa.

Clouds don't protect you. Steel, wood, and fiberglass will; but hat, shirt, and sunscreen will help.

GFC said:

One of the things I liked about our boat (and still do) was the large bimini over the flybridge. One of the first things I did after buying the boat was having a similar size bimini made to go over the cockpit.

As a fair-skinned, red headed, blue eyed Irishman, I can't take too much sun. All the things that ColonyCove mentioned are things I do on a regular basis. Well, at least I started doing them this past summer.

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Being blue-eyed and fair-skinned, I appreciate a fully-enclosed pilothouse without a flybridge.

One more thing I think could help is a long-sleeved shirt or extremely light wind-breaker jacket, even on a hot day. You might sweat a bit more, but a cool shower will take care of that and be easier on you than medical attention. I have even gone so far as to wrap a towel around an exposed arm on a long cruising day when the suns rays were not being caught by the canvas top.
Someone once said that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure; a very applicable concept when considering the relentless rays of the sun.

One could use an umbrella, but that wouldn't be trawlerlike.

Well, I went back to the Doc today for another fun time. When I was in there a few weeks ago they biopsied two areas and both were positive for a squamous cell carcinoma. The first of those two was the subject of the first two pictures in this thread.

Today I went back and got the second removed. It was above my right ear, right at the bottom of my sideburn. Here's the results.....





This one doesn't hurt nearly as much as the first one and the reason for that is the skin in front of the ear is much more elastic than the skin at the top of the forehead where the first one was cut out. This was a much simpler operation and so far, the pain has been minimal.

I don't know if I mentioned it in the prior posts, but the first one was cut out on a Monday morning. The headache didn't go away until Wednesday around mid-day. Aspirin, ibuprofen and Tylenol 3's didn't curb it so I just had to let it run its course.

Don't forget the sunscreen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I ditto all the previous posts as I have just had a melanoma removed from my arm this week and crossing my fingers they got it all. I did get badly burned also in my teen years and ended up in the hospital. Be careful, and that has to start at a young age.

Mark,
I got some of the highest readings ever on my lightmeter when I did "real" photography in the 70s. Lots of difused light comes from everywhere and the total light is more than direct sunlight. But w direct sunlight all around you, you also get a lot of reflected light standing in the shade.

manyboats said:

Mark,
I got some of the highest readings ever on my lightmeter when I did "real" photography in the 70s. Lots of difused light comes from everywhere and the total light is more than direct sunlight. But w direct sunlight all around you, you also get a lot of reflected light standing in the shade.

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So true Eric, even with broad brim hats you still need sunscreen on the head and neck and other exposed areas. Recently purchased some UPF rated shirts as well.

Damage leading to melanoma usually happens while young. Yesterday I heard an interview with a research medico reporting great progress in treatment in the last 3 years,such that secondaries, previously usually rapidly fatal, are much more susceptible to successful treatment. Prevention is best, but treatment is improving.

A real downside for our sunny climate. Temp today 44 C(111 F)