FREE Skin Cancer Screenings

It was a spring day about three years ago when my oldest son came home from an appointment with the dermatologist. He'd had a stubborn rash we suspected was due to an allergy to metal that wasn't responding to the OTC hydro-cortisone creams I'd purchased for him.

"How'd it go?" I asked.

"Fine. He wrote me a scrip, said it should clear up within a week or so," he replied. Then, almost as an after-thought, he went on, "Oh, and he biopsied three moles."

I'd been working when he walked in, and I must admit, I hadn't been giving him my full attention. At that, my head snapped up, and I screeched, "He did WHAT?!" He now had my full, unwavering attention. "What do you mean he biopsied three moles?"

"He said there were three moles on my back that looked suspicious, so he removed them and sent them to be biopsied," he replied calmly.

There were two reasons why this news came as a bit of a surprise to me.  Not only had my son not gone to the dermatologist for a skin cancer screening, but he was barely 18 at the time.  It never even dawned on me that a skin cancer screening might be a good idea for someone so young.  After the initial surprise, I wasn't too concerned for the same reason. I marked my calendar for the day a week or so later, when the doctor had told him he'd have results, and didn't give it too much more thought.

Imagine my surprise when my son got the call from the doctor telling him that although the moles hadn't been actively malignant, they were pre-cancerous. The doctor went on to explain to my son, that had they not been removed they would have grown into melanoma, likely within ten years. I was floored. The thought that, had my son not happened into the dermatologist for something totally unrelated, he could well have wound up with melanoma by the time he was 28, was hard to comprehend.

To say that I am incredibly grateful that he did go to the dermatologist when he did, and incredibly grateful that this particular doctor took the time to screen him while he was there, is an understatement of epic proportions.

Why am I telling you all this? Because May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month and Olay, the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery (ASDS) and Marcia Cross have joined together to invite you and your girlfriends to get a free skin cancer screening.

While the invitation reads "you and your girlfriends," the offer isn't limited (from what I can tell) to women, so spread the word and invite all those you care about, men and women, young or old, to take advantage of the opportunity to get checked. Better safe than sorry. As with any cancer, the importance of early detection can't be stressed strongly enough.

Photo originally uploaded by RcktManIL's