100 Miles in May for Melanoma

Edit 30th May: We've completed 200 miles! Thank you so much everyone for your donations and your support for a fantastic cause. Don't forget to check those moles!

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I've signed up to walk 100 Miles in May with Melanoma Focus. With a dog that needs ~2 hours exercise a day and having time between jobs, I'm aiming for 120 miles, maybe more. I'd love it if you could make a donation to Melanoma Focus to help them continue their vital work.

At the start of 2023, I found out that a mole I'd had removed was stage 2 melanoma. I cancelled my post-redundancy travel plans to have investigative surgery into my lymph nodes, and in mid-February I luckily got the all clear. I knew very little about melanoma before the diagnosis. After my experience, I vowed to raise more awareness about melanoma, alongside raising some much needed funds for Melanoma Focus.

A few things I learnt...

1. Many moisturisers with SPF don't fully protect against UVA and UVB. This was a surprise to me. I switched to La Roche Posay's Anthelios UVMune 400 SPF 50+, one of many recommended by dermatologists. It's pretty lightweight and has great protection. Here are some tips and advice on sun cream: https://melanomafocus.org/about-melanoma/sun-safety/sun-creams-information/

2. Redheads are far more likely to have a gene mutation that puts us at a higher risk of developing melanoma. Non-redheads may also have the gene, so we all need to be careful. Here's some more info if you're curious: https://www.bumc.bu.edu/busm/2017/09/06/researchers-discover-why-redheads-are-more-prone-to-melanoma/

3. Since getting the all clear, I've had two full body checks and have been surprised that moles I thought were suspect weren't - and actually there are a couple that seem unremarkable, but I've been told I need to keep an eye on them. Here's a useful guide to checking your moles: https://melanomafocus.org/signs-and-symptoms-of-melanoma/. If you're worried about a mole, take a photo of it and compare the mole to the photo every 4-6 weeks to see if it's changing shape or colour.

Get those moles checked! You might think it's nothing. I'd had mine for 10+ years. My hyper vizsla Pippi happened to jump up one day and scratch it, after which it looked suspect. So I got it checked out, and now I'm getting regular checkups for life.

Thank you for reading, donating, and learning with me.

And always wear sunscreen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWuuXMef4gk