May was skin cancer awareness month, and at Overlake Hospital in Bellevue the first Monday was Melanoma Monday.
Granted, we haven’t had a plethora of blazing sun yet, but Dr. Darrell Fader, a dermatologist specializing in skin cancer surgery, said that even on a cloudy day there is still unfiltered ultra violet rays that penetrate the clouds.
Sammamish resident Denine Scallen, 46, went to Melanoma Monday for the free-screening because she was concerned about a mole that kept getting bigger.
“I went in for reassurance that there wasn’t anything wrong,” Scallen said. “The doctor said it needed to be seen.”
Scallen ended up having the mole surgically removed; it turned out to be a non-cancerous actinic keratosis, but she has been put on alert to have it checked regularly.
“I’m very pleased,” Scallen said. “I’d had the mole since last summer so I went to the screening and I am so glad I did.”
Scallen said she isn’t even a big sun lover. Her advice now; wear sunscreen. She said she wears an SPF 60 on her face everyday.
Fader said SPF stands for sun protection factor.
“If it takes five minutes to burn without sunscreen, with an SPF of 20 it would take 100 minutes to get the same burn,” he said. “Generally, the higher number is better. I’m happy with people wearing a 30-50 SPF.”
Fader said regardless of how waterproof a product might profess to be, people need to always re-apply their sunscreen after swimming or perspiring. He also said to minimize activities during peak sun hours in the middle of the day and to wear protective clothing.
Fader said if something is growing, bleeding or scabbing it would be something worth having looked at. In the case of melanoma, it looks like a mole, but it changes shape or size.
About 100 people came to the free screening. May is chosen for the event because people are wearing less clothing and dusting off the sunscreen bottle for summer, which officially begins next week.
Melanoma Monday was sponsored by Overlake Hospital.
Linda Ball can be reached at 206-232-1215 ext. 5052.
Denine Scallen, 46, went to Melanoma Monday for the free-screening because she was concerned about a mole that kept getting bigger.
Courtesy photo
