While there are, sadly, many victims of skin cancers and Melanoma — hence the existence of Melanoma Updates and our goal of driving awareness and preventative actions,  Alethea is one who has been inspiring and very public about her battle with the disease.

Now that battle has faced a two-sided assault:  she has received news of some 10 brain tumors, and is also fighting to raise the funds to travel from Cyprus to Germany for more advanced treatments.  As a physician I can say that this kind of metastasis is unfortunately statistically common in Melanoma patients, and survival rates are statistically unsatisfying.  You can read more on brain metastases on the Skin Cancer Foundation Web site.

I can tell you I don’t know Alethea, and have not vetted her case or her cause, but between her Facebook page and very specific blog posts I find her story and attitude very compelling and worth the read… and perhaps a contribution.   That is a personal decision, and there are many worthy causes we could all support.  At the very least, I want to share her very human emotions in her latest post here, filled with reminders of what we’ve been touting at MoleSafe as well:

Getting hopeful with every passing day as it means a day closer to when I can start my treatment. I can’t wait till they start shrinking these darn things and I can start a normal life again.

No one teaches you in school or as you grow up what do to in these situations, there’s no break glass in case of emergency and there is no instruction manual on what to do in case you get brain tumours.  So I live every minute by the minute and make it through the day with all your wonderful help.

All I ask that you please please avoid sunbeds, and sunbathing. Please love the skin you are in. Milk bottle white, means you are alive and will be alive. Life is too precious.

Love the skin you are in.

I see people all the time now with sunburn from mild to quite severe and I want to ask them if they know what they could potentially be doing to themselves. A friend of mine said she used baby oil recently. I said I used to use that. Look at me now. She promised she wouldn’t do it again. I hope she doesn’t. You see until this happens to you, you take many things for granted too, like our skin. We pay little or no care to what we subject it to when we spend hours in the sun just to get a tan and laugh and joke about our silly tan lines and our white bottoms afterwards. I have to say I dont miss the white bottom but I do miss being sun kissed. Now I feel like I’m being sun bashed. lol You cant get a skin transplant. Once you get melanoma you cant un-get it!

Mrs. Ayers writes with a charming candor that may help the healthy as well as those sharing her challenge to keep a good perspective:

One day at a time, one bus ride [to radiation therapy] at a time one zapping at a time. I go to bed early most evenings so I’m never knackered in the mornings although it takes me time to actually oil my my facial muscles to smile first thing. So poor hubby gets grumparse Alethea whilst everyone on the bus gets to see me awake and chirpy Alethea. By the time I get back its time to get my son from day care. He is such a happy baby (gets it from me lol) I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself.

In another entry she mentions her belated understanding of how day to day sun exposure that we may not even think of can creep up on us, such as hanging an arm out the window while driving. It’s a good reminder that defensive driving should include sunscreen! And checking that arm regularly — and other places where you may unconsciously get day to day exposure – as a more frequent part of your skin self-exam is a good idea, as mentioned by Dr. Richard Besser of Good Morning America:

No matter what your skin color, you have to check your skin regularly for signs of skin cancer. The first place to check is any area that is sun-exposed: your face, neck, ears, hands and your back and legs if you’re at the beach. Don’t forget your arm if you hang it out the window while you’re driving. Balding men should check their scalps — even the skin exposed by the part in your hair.

As Mrs. Ayers reminds us, please don’t take your skin for granted.