The summer season is something that most of us impatiently wait to begin and enjoy on vacation while taking advantage of the health benefits offered by the sun. But despite being beneficial for our health, staying out in the sun for too long without any protection may cause serious issues.
Such a thing happened to a mother who loved staying in the sun for too long at a younger age but now regrets it for not using any protection since she was left without a large chunk of skin on her head after being diagnosed with cancer.
Doctors removed a portion of the skin on her scalp, leaving her with a huge scar.
After going through a 90-minute surgery to remove cancerous skin tissue, Mary is speaking out against the use of sunbeds by telling people about her experience.
When Mary was getting her skin checked in July, the dermatologist saw a “discolored” flat spot in the middle of her scalp.
After a biopsy showed that the spot was melanoma, the surgeons didn’t waste any time getting rid of the cancerous skin and tissue while Mary was still awake.
Since the cancer had not spread, the mother was discharged from the hospital after having her wound closed with staples.
She calls herself a recovering “sunworshipper,” and she wants to get the word out about how important it is to take care of your skin.
Mary’s melanoma was the size of a two-pound coin when she was first diagnosed, and on July 21, she was transferred to the UT Southwestern Medical Centre, where surgeons removed an even larger portion.
The medical team had to perform two rounds of surgery before the borders of the incision were found to be free of melanoma.
A cosmetic surgeon used 13 staples to cover the huge hole on top of Mary’s skull while she was under general anesthesia for about two hours.
“I grew up here in Texas in the pool and on the lake because it’s so hot here. Everyone knows about skin cancer but you don’t think it’ll happen to you,” she says.
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