It was my pleasure to be a small part of a new campaign called #NotJustSkinCancer launched by the Melanoma Network of Canada in partnership with Save Your Skin Foundation.. a campaign focusing on online complacency surrounding melanoma and skin cancer.. primarily how our young people today are just not getting the message it's serious out there.. we worked with a very talented artist who handmade paper that showed some hashtags popular on social media, hashtags that show that we aren't finished educating about melanoma and skin cancers.. these papers only showed the messages when exposed to light, similar I thought to sun spots and moles that appear on the skin after years of exposure... Canada AM invited Annette Cyr and myself on their morning show to discuss hashtags such as #skincancerhereicome #Ineedatan #sorrynotsorry or my favourite #sunburnart.. here are some others
we kicked off our brand new video for YouTube by the same name #NotJustSkinCancer where we talk about skin cancers and melanoma, how it feels to be diagnosed and having this cancer joked about by people who are obviously unaware of it's perils
I also touched on the tanning industry and how the tan I got in 1982 is still trying to kill me
the World Health Organization and common sense knows indoor tanning is carcinogenic but no one told me back in the day.. so I've decided to speak up..
It wasn't uncommon for my husband paul and I to gauge how successful our holidays were by how tan we got.. look how foolish we look.. we're darker than the hawaiian lady! needless to say our holidays (some still in tropical climates) look different, a lot different
I had a blast chatting with sarah parrot of toronto's 680News about our #NotJustSkinCancer campaign..
Rogers Daytime TV and Jacqueline were great, they not only talked with me for 3 segments but ran the whole #NotJustSkinCancer video from YouTube
Rogers Daytime TV York Region had me on to chat about sun safety, our campaign and indoor tanning.. I took along a picture of my first surgery, to bring the point home.. they wanted to put it up while we were talking, I think it speaks for itself.. here it is below.. 30+ metal staples for 1 mole removed
I know this is a hard image to look at, especially because I wasn't sure how to make it smaller (sorry) but I included this because it's important.. this picture is of my very first surgery to remove the mole that grew into stage 3 melanoma.. this incision is for ONE mole.. one.. right there in the middle of the scar.. when I took off the bandage at home I was shocked.. the other thing that's obvious from this image is that I'm covered in moles.. every one a potential killer really.. the important thing to know about tanning beds is that I didn't have ANY of these moles before I started indoor tanning.. that's what extreme UV exposure does, brings these kinds of things to the surface of the skin
