Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

Sooooooo....I well and truly failed at writing every day this month, infant, writing any more at all! There are several reasons for this...

1) I've been insanely busy. Busier than I have been all year! The month started with me getting two (yes two!) jobs, on the union bars and as a student ambassador, especially for working with young people trying to inspire them to go to university. Then I was in the university's production of 'Poppea' which was, to all intents and purposes, rather successful :) I went to France for a week to visit Richard for the last time before he comes home, I went home home to see KLOS' Sound of Music, and plenty of other things-phew!!

2) I've also had a crazy amount of uni work. Apparently it was all waiting for May to come about, and that it did. I've written the equivalent of a dissertation this month, as well as a 20-minute performance!

3) Probably the most important factor is that I've been having a bit of time 'off' cancer. I haven't had any problems, haven't felt ill haven't found any weird lumps or bumps or marks, and havent been waiting on any results! I've been using the time to really just get away from the whole thing,NAND to be honest, I feel so much better for it. Even though it is a life fact, and something that is going to be there forever, it's sometimes very nice to be able to just not have it at the front of your mind.

But despite my poor excuses, Melanoma, and cancer in general, has obviously been around! Hearing the stories of some of the people I know, and what they're going through, reminds me on a daily basis of what a cruel disease this really is.

One thing that I am pretty shocked at though, is how little has been made of promoting sun safety, especially in the recent weather, and also the fact that so many people think that skin cancer is not serious. With. Few stories in the media recently, I have read so many comments recently saying that 'it's nothing serious' and 'it's not like real cancer' and this is the sort of opinion that I'm faced with a lot. A type of cancer snobbery really, people saying that it's it 'real' cancer, because of the fact that i haven't had chemo. This is the sort of thing that needs to be wiped out, and something that people need to realise is not the case.

It's these sorts of opinions that need to be changed, and the opinions that cause people to be irresponsible in the sun. Now, I'm not saying that sun is the only thing that causes melanoma, but it has a significant contribution. It's like saying if you smoke 40 cigarettes a day, you might get lung cancer, but you might not, I'm inclined to believe that more people would not take the risk. The same applies with skin cancer. If you burn in the sun, you might get skin cancer, but you might not. I really think it is an unnecessary risk to take, and I was getting incredibly frustrated by all the posts on facebook over the last few days, saying how hilarious it is that people are burnt raw, and how people are going to go outside and fry...what the hell?! These are mostly educated people, and they still go and do this...hmm. I'm a bit lost for words to be honest,I just really hope that people get the facts into their heads soon and start to take more care in the sun, like they all told me they would...

I feel bad dictating, and whenever I was to say this, it was going to sound like a lecture, but I felt here was the best place!

I think we've got a long way to go until skin cancer is considered as seriously as other cancers, but I really hope we get there, very soon, and save as many lives as possible!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Happy May!

Good Morning everyone, and welcome to May! I can't believe how quickly this year is going, and that it is May again already!!

So as some of you may know, May is Melanoma Awareness Month, getting people just in time for the summer! What I'm going to try and do (emphasis on try!) is to write a post on here every day, about Melanoma, other people I know who have suffered and general things I feel I should waffle about, with the aim of getting it spread to as many people as possible.

One thing that I think is really important to get across, is that Melanoma is a young person's disease. It is quickly becoming the most common cancer in young people, but if caught in the early stages is entirely treatable, and to an extent curable. That's why it is important to keep a really close eye on your skin, get to know your body, know what feels right and what feels wrong, and what looks write and wrong because it honestly could save your life!

So get reading, get sharing, and let's raise some awareness :)

xxx