Margaret McDonald is a 22-year-old St. Bonaventure University graduate. Like the majority of college students, Margaret spent time at Total Tan using the ultraviolet (UV) tanning beds. “In college, I used fake tanning lotions to get the desired ‘glow’ I was looking for. I would go sporadically during the winter when I felt pale or before a formal,” Margaret said.
For special events or when she had to wear a strappy dress, she enjoyed getting a nice bronzed look beforehand. She never thought anything of it because so many people were doing it. Margaret also spent a lot of time out on the beach during the summer soaking up the sun. “Summer is my favorite season,” Margaret said. “I’ve spent the majority of my summers at my family’s beach house on Lake Erie. I love to go on the boat, go swimming, and lay out on the beach.” She thought there was nothing wrong with getting crispy in the summer or a glow in the winter, but she definitely didn’t expect the shock that was about to change her life after she graduated.
Margaret was diagnosed with melanoma this October. Her diagnosis was stage one bordering stage two. Melanoma is the most dangerous form of skin cancer. Cancerous growths begin to develop when unrepaired DNA damage to skin cells triggers mutations that lead the skin cells to multiply rapidly and form malignant tumors. According to skincancer.org, 1 in 50 men and women will be diagnosed with melanoma of the skin during their lifetime. “I was going to my dermatologist’s office for what I thought was going to be a regular follow up appointment after getting a freckle removed on my right cheek,” said Margaret. “However, this visit, my dermatologist took my mom and I into a private room. Completely in shock by what he just told us, my mom looked at me while I began to freak out and panic.” Margaret was devastated to hear the news. “It’s been a living nightmare,” she says.
Margaret thought that she was in a good place in her life. She had just begun her new job doing event planning in Buffalo, NY, and everything seemed to be on the right track. She had no idea that she would be backtracked like this. “My 100 percent Irish family and skin – my parents were always cautious. I was always the little girl who wore the white t-shirt over her suit,” said Margaret. “As I got older, I really only wore baseball hats on the beach, thus leaving the sides of my face exposed. I would forget to re-apply sunscreen after I went swimming, and of course, I would lay out to get a tan, or in my case, a burn.” Of the seven most common cancers in the United States, melanoma is the only one whose incidence is increasing. Between 2000 and 2009, incidence climbed 1.9 percent annually.
About 86 percent of melanomas can be attributed to exposure to UV radiation from the sun. Although UV tanning contributed to Margaret’s diagnosis, tanning in the sun during the summer contributed the same amount, if not more. “I wasn’t always tanning, my skin also wasn’t protected enough during the summer, which might have been my downfall,” she said. “It’s really a combination. You need to protect your skin and be more cautious in the sun if you have fair skin. Love the skin you’re in.”
After the diagnosis, it was time to think of a plan of action. Margaret decided to opt for a surgery with a deep, wide excision performed by a plastic surgeon. This is more often recommended with melanoma, but Margaret was hesitant because it would leave a large scar on her face. This surgery would test her sentinel lymph nodes, since she was close to stage two. “From my diagnosis in mid-October to the actual surgery on December 4, I didn’t get one full night of sleep. My mind was in a different place; I was consumed by thoughts of the cancer spreading and the surgery,” said Margaret.
During her surgery, they injected nuclear radioactive dye to track the path of flow from the freckle site tumor on her cheek to the area lymph nodes. This is called sentinel lymph node testing. They removed the cells that lit up with this dye and sent for pathology to assess if it had spread. The node removed was in her neck/chin area below her right ear. They also made a large incision into her cheek to take out the tissue.
After the surgery, Margaret felt extremely relieved. “Even though I wasn’t sure about the results, it was one more step to check off my list and one step closer to finding my answer,” she said. “I was mostly scared about the cancer spreading, which would result in open neck surgery to remove every node.” Margaret said that the support she received from family and friends was heartwarming, and made the whole situation bearable.
Ten days after Margaret’s surgery, she received the extremely relieving news that she was cancer free.
“I don’t want to scare people; I just want to make them more aware and cautious of melanoma. I want them to realize that it can and will happen,” Margaret said. “If something seems out of place or looks strange on your skin, get it checked.”
As of September 2, 2014, ultraviolet (UV) tanning devices were reclassified by the FDA from class I (low to moderate risk) to class II (moderate to high risk) devices. More people develop skin cancer because of tanning than develop lung cancer because of smoking.
I asked Margaret to tell her college self one thing.
“You will one day learn that going tanning to look good before the formal or wearing the perfect dress will ultimately leave you with a huge scar on your face as a reminder of your decisions,” she said. “I get so angry when I see young girls walking into Total Tan, knowing that they are putting their health at risk. It’s just not worth it. The guy or friends you want to impress do not care about how pale you look in the winter and nor should you.”
Credit for the facts and statistics within this article.
