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Don’t plant me in full sun, please

Posted on April 18th, 2008 – 8:22 AM
By Robyn Dochterman

Don’t you hate sunscreen? We gardeners know we should wear it. But I hate it. It’s gooey and sticky and irritates my eyes. And when I put it on my lips, I swear I can taste it in my mouth. And who wants to deal with all that just to go out and pull a weed or two?

Starting today, I do.

I just learned I have skin cancer. It’s right along my lower lip, a common place (along with the nose and ears) for us outdoor-loving types to get skin cancer. If it were on my shoulder, it might not be that big a deal. But my face is…well, it’s usually the first thing people see when they meet me. My lips are kind of useful for eating and talking and kissing, if I’m lucky. Big gaping holes or scars aren’t really how I want to be recognized or remembered.

I figured someday I would probably get skin cancer. I’m fair-skinned, I grew up playing in the sun before they started talking ozone and sunscreen, and I got many sunburns, some of which blistered. And as I’ve just confessed, I haven’t been exactly religious about sunscreen in my gardening habits.

I am embarrassed about this, but I can admit it to you. I thought I’d be old when I got it and, frankly, it wouldn’t matter all that much then. I feel pretty silly about that now. I’m not that old. And to me, it does matter.

If you’re a dedicated sunscreen user or hat wearer, rock on! I admire you. But in case you’re like me and managed to ignore warnings until now, take 20 seconds for yourself or your daughter or your sibling and keep reading.

There are more than a million cases of new skin cancer diagnosed every year, according to the American Cancer Institute. Of these, about 90 percent are caused by sun exposure. Bla, bla. Just numbers, right?

How about this one: If you’re Caucasian, your chances of getting skin cancer in your lifetime is 1 in 3.

Or this: A person’s risk for skin cancer doubles if he or she has had five or more sunburns. Not in a summer. In a lifetime.

Oh, and if you’re female, you might want to know this, too: The percentage of women under age 40 with basal cell carcinoma has tripled in the last 30 years, while our rate of squamous cell cancer has increased four-fold.

Want to test your sun safety knowledge? Or learn more?

Squamous cell carcinoma is what I have, by the way. I was going to have surgery to remove it and show you my post-op photo, thinking that might encourage any of you with stubborn streaks like me to finally don a hat. But I can’t show you that photo just yet. It might scare small children.

Actually, the area the doc wanted to remove was so big, he said plastic surgeons would have to reconstruct my lip with skin grafts and flaps and it wouldn’t ever be quite right. So I’m trying an immune system booster to see if we can shrink the cancer enough so surgery won’t leave me looking like Zipper Scar Girl. That would be a really different kind of blog from Green Girls.

So as you head out to the garden and enjoy the sun, please do so responsibly. In fact, tell me your secrets. How do you protect yourself from sun damage? Are you devoted to hats? Long sleeves? Sunscreen? Please, tell me about it so I know I’m not alone.

And one final favor: If you see me outside in the middle of a sunny day, kindly escort me to the shade.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 18th, 2008 at 8:22 am and is filed under Weather woes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

15 Responses to "Don’t plant me in full sun, please"

Sparklegirl says:

April 18th, 2008 at 8:49 am

Robyn, I’m so sorry to hear this. My parents (sun-lovers and boaters) have both had small skin cancers removed and they’re only in their mid-fifties. So I’ve tried to be really careful about skin stuff, even when not gardening (e.g., I wear sunscreen on my face every day, every season).

When gardening, I always:
- Wear a hat (even a baseball cap helps — I’m trying to find one that covers my ears but is comfortable)
- Spray one of the “cooling” dry sunscreen sprays on my neck, all exposed limbs, etc. (Neutrogena’s is a favorite: not too sticky, although I seem to need a lot of it)
- And on my face, I use a sunscreen with helioplex (which is believed to make the the spf last longer). Again, I go with Neutrogena’s, which is now available in SPF70.

You’re not alone in this. :) Good luck!

Annie says:

April 18th, 2008 at 8:57 am

Robyn,
Thank you so much for the reminder that we ALL need to be cautious and proactive with our skincare. I wish you all the best as you start on your recovery from skin cancer.

allison says:

April 18th, 2008 at 9:59 am

My thoughts are with you. My step-dad has had several bouts with skin cancer, all in different places on his body. IT IS SO IMPORTANT to wear sunscreen ALL year round. I make sure to have it on when working in the yard and always have to attack my husband with hands covered in sunscreen to get it on him.

Get better soon!

Pnutz says:

April 18th, 2008 at 10:48 am

Robyn,
My thoughts are with you. Last June I had basil cell cancer removed from the left side of my nose. It was very scary but they did a pretty good job fixing it up and it sure beats the alternative, although it is not fun to go through. I keep reminding my family and friends how important sunscreen is and they are more careful nowadays. Coppertone makes a really easy-to-apply mist but I do use an Aveeno cream on my face. I still go in sun, just wear sunscreen. And get checked every year. Good luck!

Connie Nelson says:

April 18th, 2008 at 11:19 am

Robyn,
Thanks for sharing your story. I’ve never been to keen on sunscreen either, but my dermatologist frightened me into it. Now I use the stuff with zinc in it. It goes on white but rubs in OK. I call it my kabuki make-up. And I wear it everyday.
Hang in there, girl. We’ll be thinking of you!

Robyn Dochterman says:

April 18th, 2008 at 2:20 pm

Hey everyone. Thanks so much for your good thoughts and support. I appreciate your suggestions for good sunscreen, too.

Just in the last week, I bought both Aveeno moisturizer with sunscreen and Neutrogena with helioplex to try, since we’re going to be best buddies now (me and sunscreen).

I’ll keep you posted…in between tales of chickens, bees and gardening.

shruti says:

April 19th, 2008 at 8:02 am

Robyn:
I am sorry to hear about your diagnosis. Heather Armstrong at Dooce.com wrote about her skin cancer while I was living out at Jersey and going to the beach everyday–without sunscreen. I started religiously lathering up after that.

I even wear it in the winter! I bought moisturizer that has sunscreen built in, which a) makes it easier to not forget and b) makes it easier to rub in. I highly recommend Dermatolgica brand moisturizer and for an extra boost (summer, gardening), you can mix in their sunscreen boost. The Refinery in Dinkytown sells their products.

Diane says:

April 19th, 2008 at 10:47 am

Robyn, best of luck with this latest challenge! Here’s hoping you can get that little monster down to size before surgery! I’m with shruti, moisturizer with SPF 30 — I don’t always think about sunscreen, but boy do I notice if I skip the moisturizer so I’m faithful with that! I know this is something more and more of us will be facing, some sooner than later. One thing with sunscreen that most people don’t know, the SPF blocks your body’s ability to produce it’s own Vit. D so there’s a trade off (SAD). If anybody’s looking for further info the govt of Australia has great info in copious amount because this is a huge national health issue for them.

Mary Schier says:

April 19th, 2008 at 4:14 pm

Robyn: Good luck with your treatments. I’ve had a couple of non-cancerous, but funky things removed from my face…so this year, for my birthday, I asked for one of those sun-screen hats to wear while gardening. I also use sun-screen and a moisturizer with sunscreen in it, but I figure the hat will be extra protection for the area where I am most prone to trouble.

trudy says:

April 21st, 2008 at 6:30 am

Yikes. The best of luck. I am amazed at what can be done with surgery to repair the face, however, note Senator McCain’s situation.

Perhaps you want to get a second opinion from a plastic surgeon.

I use Johnson&Johnson Purpose moisturizer with built-in SPF 15, which is not greasy, but I am sure I haven’t been applying it often enough. Also, since I’ve never been comfortable is very bright light or hot weather, I tend to do my gardening before 10 am or after 4 pm.

I stumbled across the fact that people should be going in to see a dermatologist once a year for a full body check, esp. as we get older and strange things start appearing which a layperson can’t tell whether they’re harmless or something that needs removing.

Of course, the last thing I had removed, I got a staph infection from the procedure…

Heather says:

April 21st, 2008 at 9:20 am

Sorry about the diagnosis!

I’m a very fair skinned girl who burns easily. I’m worried about skin cancer, so now I wear sunscreen year-round (I agree - the moisturizer is a good way to go.) I also am happy to have only shade or part-shade garden beds!

One comment: Paula Begoun (http://cosmeticscop.com/) recommends only sunscreens with one of three ingredients: zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, or avobenzone. These 3 ingredients are the only FDA approved sunscreens that block both UVA and UVB rays (the ones that cause cancer).

Good luck!

Robyn Dochterman says:

April 21st, 2008 at 11:45 am

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone. I appreciate them all. Maybe we should rate sunscreens as to wearability, effectiveness, etc. We could call our favorites GreenGirls-Approved.

So, who has lip protection suggestions?

Diane says:

April 22nd, 2008 at 3:59 pm

I use the clear version of Almay lip color — not gloss –with spf15. IT goes on under lip color and stays put. I’m also using that around my eyes ’cause I haven’t found anything with SPF that doesn’t melt into my eyes as soon as I get sweaty. If we’re discussing lips, how about suggestions for eyes? Also, anybody try the SPF clothes? I have a surfer shirt/rash guard with SPF 25 to it but I can’t really tell if it works any better than any other tight weave shirt.

Peter Hoh says:

April 22nd, 2008 at 7:47 pm

Robyn, thanks for sharing your story, and best of luck as you navigate through treatment. I’ve tried to be more careful about sun exposure, but I’m sure I’m not doing all I could do.

laura says:

April 23rd, 2008 at 4:53 pm

i dont enjoy slathering on sunscreen, so last year i picked up some spray on sunscreen and i LOVE it. so much easier to apply, and i dont have to deal with that icky greasy feeling. the one i purchased is coppertone sport sunscreen. the bottle says ‘clear no-rub spray’. for my lips, i use aveda ‘lip saver’ which has an spf of 15. i have a big floppy hat for gardening that covers my ears and the back of my neck. i love my big hat.

http://www.coolibar.com offers clothing for sun protection. they have shirts with venting in the sides, long sleeve swimwear and swim pants, and tons of hats to choose from. kinda pricy, but really neat stuff.

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