Bad Moles....

Unless your normal life includes baking in the sun or going out without sun protection, I think it's highly probable that you can continue.  I've had several "bad moles" removed, including ones that needed stitches and have scars.  I just make sure that I use sun protection much more diligently than I used to, visit the dermatologist regularly, and keep an eye on my skin myself.   You can get a body scan these days and the doctor can use it to track mole progress, if that would make you feel better.
 
Don't panic! [sm=wink2.gif]

Amy, my sister-in-law had skin cancer on her calf a few years ago.  It was a total shock, as she isn't much of an outdoors person, and it was kind of an odd place - not something always exposed to the sun.  She, too, had to go back and have a larger area of skin removed.  I guess they rate skin cancer by levels (I think 1 through 5) and hers was a 4, so pretty severe.  They had to take some muscle tissue below the skin, too, but she's had no recurrences since.  She has kind of a "crater" in that area, like an indent in the calf muscle, but nothing really obvious to the casual observer.  She didn't have to do any other treatments, however, she avoids sun at all costs, and is religious about heavy sunblock basically all year round.  She's fair skinned, and her dad had a couple incidents of skin cancer, so she was predisposed. 
 
I just remembered another guy I knew who had a couple cancerous moles removed from his ears - all due to years of golfing in the sun.  Now he wears wide-brimmed hats all the time, but he didn't have recurrences either. 
 
I know it's easier said than done when you enjoy the sun and outdoors, but I think you'll have to modify your lifestyle a bit - even if just means really lathering on the highest SPF you can get, and avoiding those peak hours midday.  I live in Oregon, where there are only 75 clear days a year on average, so I know it's easy for me to give advice when I don't live in an area like you do.  As you said, if you are really vigilant about checking your body for anything suspicious, that will be a big help, too.
 
I hope the follow up continues to be positive -- it sounds like you caught things early and the doctors are getting right on top of it.  Sending good thoughts your way.

Thanks guys!
 
Actually my life does consist of baking in the sun.  I have fair skin and light hair... and if I dont tan I am VERY VERY white, like almost see through lol.  I know its not so bad, but I prefer to be tan.  Not only that I very much enjoy laying in the sun whether by the pool or on the boat.  I go fishing a lot... we just started wakeboarding and stuff.  We have lots of get togethers in the summer... so on. 
 
My favorite thing in life is being out in the sun... doing things outdoors.  I do go to the tanning beds too right before summer and up until mid summer usually... I dont go in the winter and towards the end of summer.  That I think I can work on, although I do want to...
 
This may seem cazy to some people but Im just being honest.  I dont by any means want to change these things if at all possible, even if it means being very watchful and visiting the dermatologist every few months for check ups.  Do you think this would work... just staying up on it?
 
I have had these moles since I was little and have also read that just that put me at risk and b/c of them and I would most likely have had this problem even if I never went in the sun.  I know the sun is not good but I dont know that its what caused this...

You're right  . . . the sun may not have anything to do with it.  As I said, my sister-in-law definitely isn't an outdoors person.  I think you can continue your outdoor lifestyle, but I would really be sure to use heavy sunscreen.  You'll still get color, especially if you use tanning beds.  I'm no expert, but I'm so cancer-phobic, I'd be the type to start wearing a moonsuit outside.  I guess it just depends on each person's individual comfort with some risk.  It can't be avoided 100%. 
 
Of course, you could always move to the Pacific Northwest (or the United Kingdom), and you could be as white as a ghost and it won't matter, because everyone else looks that way, too!  We always laugh when we see school photos of our Oregon friends' children, compared to those of our Connecticut friends' kids.  The easterners all have a rosy glow, and the Oregonians all look pasty!  The dreary skies here keep the tanned population down

I have fairer skin as well, but I don't go tanning because I don't want to get cancer when I get older. I use sunless tanners instead, then sun block.
 

OK, just the two cents of an old fart former sun worshipper.
 
Tanning beds are probably actually better than the real sun because your exposure is more limited.  They won't LET you buy back to back sessions and MOST will be sure that you work up your time.  With a GOOD facility you are much less likely to come out fried.  However, not all facilities are looking out for your best interest.  Some give in to the pressure cuz we go to a tanning bed generally because we are in a hurry.
 
Many years ago I moved my pale as a ghost yankee hide to Mississippi.  After the THIRD bout of sun poisening (one from chatting with a neighbor in the yard for 15 minutes) my doc told me to either get my pale butt to a tanning bed for a base tan, or to live the life of a vampire and keep that pale butt inside except after the sun went down.  However, he was VERY clear on what my exposure should be and how to SAFELY get that base. 
 
I've tanned, on and off for years, but minimally.  I find the tanning beds to be especially beneficial in the dreary gray winters of the north, just to keep the major depression at bay.  But being "dark" isn't my goal.  I want only to be able to have enough of a base to prevent me from burning when I work or play outside.  I haven't tanned in over a year.  A couple weeks ago I was outside doing the fine sand on a table I'm refinishing.  My shoulders burned.  But, that was extreme and they did turn to tan in a couple days.  But probably the biggest catalyst for me to STOP really working on staying dark was my older sister telling me that I look YOUNGER with a little less color.  Yikes!  The last thing I want to do is to make myself look older!  I don't mind being old as dirt, but by golly I don't wanna LOOK old as dirt!!
 
So, with all that said, you need to ASK THE DOCTOR what a safe level of exposure is for you.  Being tan is NOT worth risking your life.

Amy, Sunblock,sunblock, sunblock.  I don't know how old you are but if you don't start taking protective measures now you may find yourself getting all moles removed as you get older. I want to thank you for posting this because Cody and Chad have some moles that have gotten bigger on their backs. We have a family history of Melanoma. My Grandmother and Aunts on BOTH sides of the family.    Monday morning I'm calling the Doctor for the twins.  Even though our northeast summers are short here, they were on the lake morning till night.  I have a co-worker that has the same color hair and skin as I do.  She goes to tanning booths starting in March and bakes in the sun all summer.  Right now I almost look transparent compared to her.  However, People can't believe that she is younger than I am.  She looks ten years older than me.  Just keep an eye on things and do what your doctor tells you.   I can understand how you feel.  Summer fun with family and friends can't be beat and finding shade is sometimes not an option.  Sunblock will give you protection for many, many, many years of looking younger summer fun.  []

I think I might agree with Glenda if you insist on having a tan then go to the tanning salon like you normally do, but then I would wear sunscreen when you are outside.  You will still get a tan with as much as you are out there but it will take longer and your skin will be more protected.  I have fair skin too and lots of moles.  I think just having fair skin might make us more prone to melanoma and other skin cancers. 

I have had a large mole removed on my boob and the spot shows when I wear a bathing suit.  It was one that required stitches.  It has healed very nicely and my DH agrees.  If you ask your dermatologist, there are probably things you can put on the spots to help with scarring.  I think vitamin E oil might be one of them but I would check with her.

Just be glad you caught it early before it turned into anything.  I think you can still continue your life as it is but I would certainly take a little more precaution with the sun. 

What about the new mystic tan thing where they spray you and u are tan for a couple of weeks?
 
Also, I try to go to the tanning salon a few times before I know I will hit the sun a lot so I can get the base tan.  This thread reminds me I need to do so before my cruise in June.  With me, and it may be because of my BC pill, but if I use any sunblock, no matter how strong, I get no color.  So to compromise, I usually go without it for an hour or 2 (depending on where in the sun I will be,.... I burn best by the ocean) and then put some on.

I tan easily, but can understand the desire to want to be tan when you are so fair.  I don't mean to sound harsh, but is the effort worth the risk?  That is a lot to put your skin through...  When I was a child (and I'm older than Glenda), we had a neighbor who basked in the sun all day with a reflective screen in back of her.  Even as a child, I knew that couldn't possibly be good for her.  Yes, she was tanned, but unnaturally so.  I would just proceed with caution, and take care of what the good Lord blessed you with.  

Thanks everyone.

I do not by any means plan to let myself get white... vain I guess but I just prefer to be tan... the way I look at it I could possibly live wite and avoid the sun at all costs and end up dealing with this my whole life anyway, so I figure I may as well be doing what I want.

I also went to the tanning bed for a base tan so that I would not burn in the sun b/c the sun would not TAN me it would burn me... and bad.  And then the burn would go away.  The only way I have been able to get a tan is the tanning beds.   Once that, then the sun tans me too.  I also do not use sunscreen for the first hour or so then I will put some on, or somethimes I will just put it on the whole time but it will be an spf 10 or so.  Im still not dark (I dont want to be either) but Im tan, and I can wear shorts or a bathing suit without bllinding someone.

The mystic tans do not last a few weeks.  Thats what they say but Ive done it twice.  They last maybe a week tops but they fade a great deal with every shower.  I also tried the fake tanners and actually dont mind the pains of it if it would last, but if you like to be in the water then its just pointless.  Ill put it on, then the next day go swim and within an hour its gone.  And it limits the amount you can shave since your trying to keep it there longer.  Not worth it for me to avoid the water so my tan does not disappear when I get out lol.

I would get your sons checked.... my sister in law is a nurse practitioner and she was surprised at which moles they chose to remove and that made her say she was taking her kids in.

I was crying to DH about getting these moles removed... 3 were on my stomach and they were MINE, theve been there my whole life... I kinda liked them.  One was very big and one next to it was medium and one little on that recently popped up... But the two bigger ones having to go really upset me because Ive never not had them!  There not raised or ugly or anything just dark circles... o well.  One was also on my shoulder and one on the back of my leg.  She also saw more....   But like I said Ive had most of these my whole life so I dont know that the sun caused it... Im sure it didnt help...

Is it worth the risk...?  Well I guess.  Id rather enjoy the time while Im here to the fullest than live a longer life not doing the things I want... but thats just me...

Then again, if this is something that even with constant care and doc visits could kill me then I would do something.  Thats why I was asking... I think its pretty safe IF you stay on top of it and get them removed asap.  I just may have to get a few removed every so often... then again i may not if these were just going to do it even if I had not been in the sun.  Two of them that she took were fairly new... so, do they just pop up on their own, spread if you already have one, or does the sun do that?  Just not sure.  What I also read was that people like me who have lots of moles and fair skin... or people who have more then 3 atypical moles ( that would be me) are also at a much greater risk for developing other types of cancer as well.... like pancreas, colon, and so on.  That also makes me just feel like I need to enjoy the heck out of life while I can.  Besides that by grandmother died of colon cancer...

Growing up in Arizona, I was surrounded by tan people.  Not me, though, I had to get my Grandmother's pasty Irish skin (but I also got her red hair, too!).  I can remember in junior high laying out by the pool covered in baby oil, actually laying on sheets of tinfoil (idiotic, I know).  All I ever did was burn and peel.  I got tired of it and resigned myself to a life of SPF 50 and hats.  When we moved to Ohio I thought I'd fit right in, they can't be all that tan, right?  WRONG.  They go to tanning beds all year long around here. Also, my middle boy has bright orange hair and the same pasty white skin (gorgeous brown eyes, though!).  No freckles to speak of.  I keep him covered in sunscreen all year long, even on his ears and on his scalp.  Just one of the many perks of our heritage I guess.  My oldest son, from my first marriage, is part Polish and gets the most beautiful tan.  Brat. My father has had several bouts with melanoma and he's been an outdoors guy his whole life.  Even though I'm outside all the time, I just don't ever want to go through what he's been through so I adjust accordingly.  I'm still outside, just never tan. Good luck to you, Amy.  Keep us posted.

Amy, I'm in the same boat as you.  I've had 7 removed in my lifetime.  Small ones can be done by freezing.  Larger ones require stitches... not fun.  I had 3 large ones done in high school, one recently on my scalp above my ear.  It puffed up one day and off to the Derm I went.  I had a doctor who removed 2 of them for me by freezing them off.  He made some f@$*& comment about 'what we do for vanity'.  I was like 'excuse me!!??'.  Vanity?  Um if I was that vain I'd have them ALL removed!  I can count over 100 small moles on ONE arm alone.  I now have 3 large ugly scars on my back from high school.  I should probably go back to the Derm, it's been over a year or so now.

But, I do think the sun helps to bring them out.  I have more moles on my arms, shoulders than anywhere else because they are in the sun more.  My boobs have like, 2.  lol....

I cant believe he said that! 
 
Actually I would prefer to keep them.  I was crying about it... I would much rather them than a scar besides the fact that I am used to them and like them.  I have them everywhere too, they are mostly like freckles.  I go back in a week to get a much larger chunk taken away from the places where she already took them so she can be sure to get all the cancerous stuff out and get the two others removed.. I am seriously sad about this... and DREADING it. 
 
I have also found a few more in the last week that I want to ask about.  
 
You should go get checked... just because you seem to be prone to it like me... you dont want to let it get to cancer and then spread into another kind... also the longer you wait I think the more skin has to be removed.