“If I get skin cancer, I’ll deal with it then” – the dangers of indoor tanning and the insouciance of youth

Today there is an article in the New York Times titled “Warning: That Tan Could Be Hazardous” that really struck a nerve with me this morning. In the article, it talks about the dangers of indoor tanning and the link between tanning sessions in youth and melanoma. Doctors are quoted about the rise in the number of the cases of melanoma that they diagnose; the president of the Indoor Tanning Association says that there’s not scientific proof indoor tanning is responsible for skin cancer (although there is a boatload of research that shows a link); and comments from young women who tan indoors.

One 22 year-old stated, “If I get skin cancer, I’ll deal with it then”. Many young women claim that tanning makes them feel more confident and pretty; potential health consequences be damned. I want to go to each of these young women and show them my excision scar. Would something like that make you feel prettier? I didn’t tan indoors and I still managed to grow pink melanoma. Why on God’s green Earth would you know the risks and still tempt fate?

I get it; when you’re young, you don’t think the future actually applies to you. Youth has a way of ignoring the fact that eventually all the bad stuff you do to your body and skin shows up. Young people still smoke, despite the warnings about lung cancer. Young people still tan indoors, despite the warnings of melanoma. But it frustrates me to no end.

“If I get skin cancer, I’ll deal with it then.” So, if you’re in your mid-20s and you get melanoma, are you OK with maybe never getting a chance to use that college education in your career because you’re in Stage 4 cancer? If you’re in your 30s, are you OK with maybe never marrying that love of your life in a strapless dress because of the 5-inch scar from your cancer excision on your upper arm? If you’re in your 40s, are you OK with maybe never seeing your kids grow up because the cancer has spread to your brain? Those are the things that youth doesn’t think of; but damn, someone should point out to them the stories of the people who didn’t have a “one and done” experience with melanoma. One of the young women mentioned in the story has had 8 melanomas removed in 2 years. Another young woman had 33 procedures, and sadly, died at the age of 33.

Based on some comments I’ve seen, skin cancer is no big deal. What? Any type of cancer is a big deal. It doesn’t matter if it’s skin cancer, liver cancer, bone cancer, or breast cancer. Yes, you might be able to be healed after removing the tumor from your body; but the scars of cancer are still there – both physically and emotionally. As much as you think you’re invincible, once you know that cancer is a part of you, it changes that ignorance. You become pretty aware of your mortality. Even if you are a positive-thinking person, there are those quiet moments in the middle of the night when you think to yourself, “What if it comes back?”