She was a redhead and didn't go to doctors very much so when she saw this weird looking thing on her arm she didn't think much of it. Then she had it diagnosed and it had already metasticized into her Intestinal area.
After her funeral my mother and I (she was still alive then) went to a dermatologist and he cut off a pre-cancer I had on the right side of my nose. Ever since 1995 I have seen a dermatologist regularly to look for pre-cancers on my face and back and arms and legs. (regularly means every 3 to 6 months).
At one point a few years ago a dermatologist surgeon cut a pre-cancer out of my right lower ear lobe by cutting out a triangle of my ear lobe and gluing my ear lobe back together. So, you really cannot tell he cut this pre-cancer out of my ear lobe now. He is also a plastic surgeon in addition to being a dermatologist.
Though I had always not liked hats, after I had a one inch triangle cut out of the right side of my nose which was sort of like having plastic surgery on that side of my face when he sewed the triangle of flesh back together after removing the pre-cancer. So, it's possible I owe my still being alive at 75 partly to my Aunt who died from a metasticized Melanoma in 1995.
Also, I began wearing hats to protect my face from the sun even though I prefer not to wear them. However, I haven't had any more problems on my face except for my ear lobe since I started wearing baseball caps to protect my face and nose. However, it didn't protect my ear lobe so maybe a wide brimmed hat would be useful if you go out in the sun very much.
I grew up in Southern California where I learned from my father to go shirtless a lot whether that was at the beach or in the mountains or at the desert. I also learned to wear sandals a lot of the year too and learned not to wear beach walkers (thongs) while driving a car because the straps can get caught in the peddles. So now, I prefer to drive barefoot if I can as a safety measure. But, going shirtless and wearing sunglasses a lot was what I learned from growing up in Southern California. Wearing sunglasses can protect your eyes so you don't eventually have to have cataract surgery by the way. So, a hat and sunglasses can really help you a lot in a lot of ways when you are in the sun or snow or where I live the clouds a lot near San Francisco.
The worst sunburns for a person are through clouds by the way not from direct sunlight. Where I live people can get skin cancer just from the sun coming through the fog and clouds and you don't notice it as soon because it doesn't get red and hurt like a direct sunburn from the sun.
Learning all these things has kept me alive to 75 so far.
By God's Grace
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