Sam Champion – Good Morning America’s weatherman with a reputation for good reporting as well as good looks (as extolled in lyrics of the recent Broadway musical Avenue Q, at one time!) recently put a brave face forward in being one of the recent trend of reporters who have had medical procedures done live. This procedure was a the removal of a basal cell carcinoma.

Sam Champion's televised skin cancer surgery

Champion tested positive for basal cell carcinoma and will have the spot removed during a micrographic procedure done at the office of his doctor, Michele Pauporte. He’s had four such areas of skin cancer removed in the past….”A lot of people never, ever go see their doctors for these issues and they should,” said Jim Murphy, senior executive producer of “Good Morning America.” He’s had 10 areas of skin cancer removed from his own body.

We applaud Sam and others for helping to dispel some fear and increase awareness for screenings and sun safety.

What can Sam expect for the visage of his arm? Here’s one answer we found by Dr. Neal Schwartz on mole-removal scarring; of course this will vary by surgery site and extensiveness:

Question from a Female / Age: 30 – 39: I had a mole removed, and after the stitches were taken out and the wound healed, my skin was pink. Is this normal? How can I make the skin return to it’s normal (not red) color?

Dr. Schultz: The reason for pinkness is that your body is still bringing nutrients to the area for more repair (since the nutrients are in the blood, and the body is bringing extra red blood to the area, you see the extra blood as a pink color). This pinkness can persist for up to six months, after which it’s probably not helping anymore. If the pink hasn’t disappeared after six months, then it can be removed by a painless laser treatment by your dermatologist. One thing that’s very important while the pink is gradually fading is strict sun protection (best with chem free sunscreens) because the sun can easily turn the pink into a brown color and then you would have to bleach the brown spot.

The forecast is for more sun, less ozone, so stay aware and stay covered.

Tags: awareness, basal cell carcinoma, Dr. Michele Pauporte, Dr. Neal Schwartz, good morning america, mole removal, sam champion, Skin Cancer, surgery

This entry was posted on Monday, May 24th, 2010 at 11:06 am and is filed under News/Events, Personal Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.