DWTS Dancer’s Tango with Melanoma

I think that’s the cheesiest headline for a blog post I’ve ever written and I’ve written a few doozies over the past almost 4 years…

Anyway, I should make it clear that I know absolutely nothing about Dancing With the Stars. In fact, I really don’t know much about TV shows in general anymore. The last time I voluntarily turned on the TV was during the Stanley Cup Finals (and I turned it on to watch the game with my dad who was doing so poorly at the time, he couldn’t even stay awake for the game). So, I’ve never watched the show, but I think I know the premise – real dancers train “celebrities” who then go and dance in front of some judges. It’s kinda like ice skating competitions from what I gather. So in light of my headline, I sincerely hope the tango is a dance they perform on the show or my pathetic attempt at relevancy falls short.

The reason why I’m talking about this is one of the dancers from the show, a beautiful young woman named Witney Carson wrote a post about her recent experience with being diagnosed with melanoma. And from the sounds of the “small strawberry-colored mole” that was found, it sounds suspiciously like Ms. Carson was diagnosed with amelanotic nodular melanoma at age 22. Unlike me, her family has a history of melanoma. And unlike me, Ms. Carson had a job that requires her to look a certain way. Unfortunately, being tan was something of a job requirement. She notes in the article, which I encourage you and any younger family members who think tanning is OK to read, that she wishes she had never used a tanning bed.

Witney details that the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes in her hip and while she was extremely fortunate that she didn’t need chemo, she had a very close call with the disease. She notes the grueling physical therapy she underwent. This young lady has my respect because I cannot imagine trying to dance at a top-level while trying to recover from that experience. I remember how difficult it was for me to just try to get my walking strength back (granted, I have a number of years on her but still).

If you or someone close to you has a red mole that has changed rapidly, or is bleeding, or just popped up out of the blue one day, go get it checked out. And remind the young people in your life that youth is no safety net when it comes to skin cancer. I wish Ms. Carson a long and cancer-free life…