SAD SAD SAD...



http://www.news.com.au/st...43,00.html

CLARE Oliver knows skin cancer will claim her life in the coming weeks, if not days.

It has already robbed her of her dream to become a journalist, but the determined 25-year-old still has the courage to write for the Herald Sun from her bed at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre to warn others of the dangers of tanning salons.

Her brave warning comes as Cancer Council Victoria pleads with the State Government to regulate the booming tanning industry, which it says contributes to skin cancer deaths and melanoma.

But any action will be too late to save Clare Oliver, who now just wants to live long enough to enjoy her 26th birthday on Saturday.

I AM at peace.

But if I could go back and talk to myself when I was 19 I would tell that girl not to use a solarium -- that melanoma is not a small cancer that you just have cut out and you will be fine.

I may pass in another week or it could be two. If I really fight it out, I may even have six weeks left.

It's scary, because I feel myself getting more tired, and each time I feel sleepy it worries me that I might not wake up.

So far I have lived 25 years. If I am lucky I will reach 26 because my birthday is on Saturday.

It is a short life, but I have lived it.

Subconsciously I did know that cancer was involved with solariums because I was aware of UV A and UV B rays.

But when I was 19, I saw a cheap offer of "buy 10 sessions and get 20".

The girl working at the tanning salon told me the fastest way to get a tan was to come in every second day and use speed cream.

My mum told me it was abnormal to get in a box and fry myself, but I told her it was cool and everyone was doing it.

After the 10th session I was starting to burn and it hurt, so I stopped. But I guess I stopped too late.

It would be irresponsible of me to blame it just on solariums, because I grew up in St Kilda and went to the beach a lot.

But you can't tell me the Government doesn't realise the dangers of solariums.

Young girls need to go out and educate themselves about solariums before they make any decisions.

Obviously my decision has been made, and I think they should be banned. But now that you know my story and the resulting risks involved, hopefully you will realise it is not worth having a golden tan.

I am angry at myself mostly, but I can't believe how much the industry is booming.

A lot of friends tell me I still have a lot of life left in me, but I just live every day as though it is my last.

I was 22 when diagnosed. I had just finished a Bachelor of Media and Communication and a Master of Cinema at the University of Melbourne and started work as a sports journalist at SBS.

I was on top of the world.

But I only got to work for three weeks and then I found out about my cancer.

I will never get to climb the so-called ladder, and even now I complain about not being able to run the rat race with everyone else.

I know I would be good at it -- I think I would be great at it.

I wanted to go to the top, but now feel I have so much potential that will be unused.

It was 2004 when they found a tumour under my left armpit, which they treated with immunotherapy.

In July 2005, it came back and this time they treated me with radiotherapy.

I was cancer-free for a year and seven months, and then in April I found a lump in my neck. I thought they could just cut it out, but it turns out there were seven tumours in my chest and one in my lung.

Now they have stopped counting how many there are.

I had all these ideas and in the end I was ready to accept that two years would be more than enough time left.

But I have accepted it, especially now that I am nearing the end and I am at peace.

When you are someone like me you realise that life is everything and you grab it with both hands and embrace it.

If there is something that you feel needs to be done, go and do it, and do it wholeheartedly because life is short.

People ask me how I can still be so happy with all this on my plate. But I have lived my life as a spark. I don't want to live a life where I am living until I am 100 and just flat boring.

I have always lived my life with compassion and passion. I have never been one to keep my silence about anything I have felt passionate about.

Melanoma is no joke. And I will keep championing this cause till the day I take my last breath.

My God How sobering to actually know the countdown to your own death I did my tanning when I was young but have avoided the sun for the last 15 years. It really isn't worth it.....

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Being latina, my skin is naturally tan. But I still lather myself in sunblock and try and sit under an umbrella while at the beach reading a book.

i've had way too much sun again this summer
she's young and that is tragic. it's one of those things
most of us won't know if we've mortgaged our lives until it's too late.
hell even treatable basal carcinoma sounds too damn painful to be worth it.

I think it might be time for me to stop sunbathing. These past 3 days have been hell.

PaisleyPark5083 said:

I'm latin too but my skin is lighter, although I tan well. But still.....

This is so tragic because it is totally preventable. I got burned once, due to my own stupidity, and got blisters. Stupid. I haven't left the house without sunscreen in 10 years or more. I don't want to get cancer, but I'm vain, I don't want wrinkles either.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

No way you are latin!? You look like a white boy to me, a cute white boy with killer green eyes!

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Me too. I'm hispanic, but I have very fair skin. I don't leave my house without putting on my sunscreen.



This is so sad and there are so many people that continue to tan even though they can get cancer.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Didn't know you were latin


I use sunscreen all the time and I slather it on my son as well. I'm still trying to convince my fiancee to use it. He feels that because he's dark, he doesn't need it



Smooches;)

PaisleyPark5083 said:

If you saw my chorizo you'd know it was fact! my last name is Corona so I think that qualifies me My dad is Mexican and my mom is half English and half spanish. The most pure of my mix is Mexican so that's how I idetify

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

One of my little girls looks white, she has green eyes, light brown hair with blonde highlights,and very light skin.

PaisleyPark5083 said:

My sister is that exact description and she isn't white. It happens



Smooches;)

MsMisha319 said:

I love to tan.

JustErin said:

So do I! But now I am not so sure.

People who "slather on sunscreen" may or may not ward off skin cancer...and they may be setting themselves up for other kinds of cancer.

Natural vitamin D production (which comes from exposure to sunlight) helps to prevent cancer. (There's a reason people who live in southern states have less cancer than those in northern states, overall.) When people wear sunscreen all the time and use sunblocking eyewear, they cut off almost all of their natural vitamin D production. And the synthetic vitamin D you get in milk (which most people don't drink anyway because "cows are for calves" ) doesn't cut it, either.

It's called moderation, folks. Practice it -- and the rest takes care of itself.

The biggest reason I stay out of the sun.....that and the fact I like looking a few years younger then my age

EverSoulicious said:

yes, nothing like a tan leatherface

PaisleyPark5083 said:

The beauty school I went too, there was a 19 year old girl that tanned so much she looks older then me

EverSoulicious said:

nothing worse for your skin, except smoking.

PaisleyPark5083 said:

she does that too. It was funny,she about fell over when I told her I was 36. She asked how I looked so good for my age and my response.....I have stayed out of the sun since I was 17 and I haven't smoked since I was 16

EverSoulicious said:

EverSoulicious

if u tan so much u'll look like that woman from there's something about mary ...hopefully someone will put up that pic again ...

L4OATheOriginal said:

A few days ago I wrote about my neighbor is a dead ringer for that lady!!

My mother has skin cancer and it's been very difficult and painful. Because of that, I am very careful when it comes to the sun. I never sit out without at least a 30 sunblock. It's way too dangerous and the sun really does age you.

PARENTS, PLEASE KNOW THIS:

-Your children will receive 80% of their lifelong sun exposure by the time they are 18

-If they burn and peel THREE TIMES before the age of 13, their chances for skin cancer (melanoma, like in the article) increase DRAMATICALLY

Keep your children covered, both in clothes and sunblock. This is a serious, serious issue.

PaisleyPark5083 said:

Smoking causes cellulite, which ought to be reason enough for any female to quit immediately or better yet, never start.

Wow.

I didn't know this.

I tan like a feign.

and 2 this day i can never understand tanning salons ..
[Edited 8/23/07 12:57pm]