Happy 1st Blogiversary to Me!

 My entry into the Blogisphere occurred 1 year ago today with the labor and delivery of my first blog! So Happy Blogiversary to me!

I want to thank each of you for taking the time to read each blog and sometimes leaving comments. It has been quite an adventure, and I'm glad you all traveled this journey with me. 

Some blogs were written with tears; others took on a life of their own. Some stories made the long trip back through memory lane; others were full of more information than you ever wanted to know about melanoma and tanning. I have shared stories that, until that blog, had been held close to my heart and never shared before. You have also seen my sometimes quirky sense of humor and my usual snarky sarcasm. I've earned search key words that I can't print here because they are pornographic in nature; I have gathered readers from all over the world, especially South Africa.

There are many more blogs waiting to be told, but for now, every ounce of my time and energy is being squeezed into getting my newest Facebook page, Pull the Plug on Tanning Beds, up and running. I realized a void in the Facebook groups. There are groups for skin cancer or melanoma in general, for support, for sun safety, for remembrance, for advocacy, for combinations of all aspects of melanoma ... but nothing specifically and solely addressing the dangers of tanning beds. 

So Pull the Plug was born, and January, the beginning of the teen indoor tanning season, was designated as Tanning Bed Dangers Awareness Month. My goal was to blanket the social media with information about the risks of using these death beds ... and I think, thanks to its more than 1,300 members and growing, we have accomplished that goal and more. 

Along with spreading awareness, we have been contacting colleges and universities about tanning beds on and off their campuses and about making risky behavior more convenient to their students by including tanning salons in their cash card programs. We have battled with tanning salons and their false advertising on Facebook. We are contacting fitness centers about including free cancer with their membership by having tanning beds. And much, much more.

All this will continue beyond January ... actually, until either I or tanning beds are obsolete! So if you haven't joined us yet on Pull the Plug and you care about the damage being done by these cancer machines, please consider this your invite.

But back to the celebration for now! One year of blogs behind me and a new blank page just waiting to be filled. I hope you enjoyed reading my blogs and took something good away ... more information, a different point of view, a smile, an understanding ... and I hope you will continue to follow me. Thank you again!

 

 Melanoma Mama (Jaime's mom, Donna)



http://www.facebook.com/donna.h.regen
http://www.facebook.com/jaime.regen.rea (Remember Jaime)
https://www.etsy.com/shop/sweetpea321 (Jjem Creations)
http://stores.ebay.com/Sweetpea321 (Jjem Creations)

Not Music to My Ears

I admit it. I have a lot of anger toward the indoor tanning industry. My daughter Jaime was a tanning bed addict when she was in high school and college ... up until she was diagnosed with melanoma, a potentially fatal type of skin cancer, when she was 20. She fought this damn disease for her entire adult life but died when she was 29. A beautiful young life cut way too short, all because of tanning bed use. So I think my anger is justified.

To fan the flames of my anger, tanning beds are still very popular, particularly among teens and young adults. Vanity wins over sanity every time. Everyone knows how dangerous UV radiation is ... or at least everyone should know ... and yet the indoor tanning business is thriving while leaving behind a trail of young dead bodies.

The American Cancer Society and various skin cancer/melanoma foundations and medical organizations, the FDA, the CDC, the US Surgeon General (and me!) have all come out with warnings about the use of tanning beds ... but our pleas are basically ignored.

Why? Because our culture promotes being tan. Reality TV shows and magazines equate being tan with being sexy, and fitness centers promote the idea that a tan is healthy, when, in fact, neither is true. A tan is just the often deadly result of UV radiation damage.

A friend who understands my obsession with getting the message out about the dangers of tanning beds made me aware of this music video (UV Love) by Clinton Sparks. A sweet little romantic ballad it's NOT, so consider yourself warned if you watch it! From the title, you can probably guess that it is filmed in a tanning salon with young women roasting in tanning beds.

I can't understand the lyrics when I listen to the song, but I still don't understand them when I read them! (lyrics) But the lyrics don't even matter. It is the visual that gives the perception that tanning is a positive and acceptable activity.

Now I know I am out of touch with the current music scene (The Lettermen is still one of my favorite groups), and I admit that I have never heard of this guy. My hope is that this recording artist (term used very loosely) is not very popular because the message he is sending, that frying your skin in a tanning bed is sexy, is just flirting with death.

I'm not going to kid myself or you into thinking that kids listen to my preaching (or their parents') about staying out of tanning beds more than they listen to music videos like this one that are targeted to their age group and reach out and grab them.

Kids don't have to use any time or effort thinking about what this video is projecting ... that being tan makes you sexy and desirable and popular and fun. After all, these videos are made to make money; same goal as the indoor tanning industry, no matter the damage they do.

In contrast, my message tells them that tanning could kill them, but kids are certain that will not happen to them. They're too young to worry about that, right? That's what my Jaime thought too!

We must change the way our culture promotes tan bodies ... from the media to the fitness centers to the world of music. Some may claim this video was created with artistic license, but I claim it is irresponsible and driving kids and young adults to participate in an activity that is similar to playing Russian roulette with their lives. Reminds me of the cigarette ads with the sexy, manly Marlboro man!

When the US Surgeon General recently released a Call to Action against skin cancer, he was reaching out to everyone to do their part. Clint Sparks apparently thinks he is exempt. Some people, like the indoor tanning industry, will do anything for a buck ... even put young lives at risk. Why should freedom of artistic expression be acceptable when it is promoting dangerous activity?

Can you see why I'm so angry???




 Melanoma Mama (Jaime's mom, Donna)

http://www.facebook.com/donna.h.regen
http://www.facebook.com/jaime.regen.rea (Remember Jaime)
https://www.etsy.com/shop/sweetpea321 (Jjem Creations)
http://stores.ebay.com/Sweetpea321 (Jjem Creations)

Fitness Centers & Tanning Beds Don't Mix

Last week CVS, the second largest drugstore chain in the US, announced that it would no longer be selling cigarettes or tobacco products as of October 2014. The CEO said, "The sale of tobacco products is inconsistent with our purpose – helping people on their path to better health." It was a bold move that will cost CVS $2 billion in annual revenue. However, lung cancer claims more lives each year than breast, colon, and prostate cancer combined, according to the Oncology Nursing Society. Cigarette smoking kills half a million Americans each year; another 16 million suffer from smoking-related conditions.
 
BUT WAIT ... A new study has shown that more skin cancer cases are caused by tanning beds than there are lung cancer cases caused by smoking. (See my Jan. 30 blog about this: http://melanoma-mama.blogspot.com/2014/01/what-is-it-going-to-take.html) So this definitely needs some additional thought. 

The World Health Organization lists tobacco as a Group 1 carcinogen (cancer-causing agent), along with arsenic, plutonium, and ... oh, right, tanning beds that zap us with excessive UV radiation for the sake of vanity! 

So what about all the health and fitness centers that also have the goal of promoting good health ... yet offer their membership unlimited use of cancer-causing tanning beds????

There are no statistics that I am aware of that show how many gyms or fitness centers offer tanning beds, because in most states, licenses to operate UV equipment are not required, but many, especially the large franchises, do ... too many. Health/fitness centers do not offer tanning beds for their health benefits (because, duh, there are none!); they offer them to make money.
 
Most fitness club members are health-conscious. They eat right, exercise, don't smoke ... and yet they then climb into a tanning bed when they are done with their fitness routine. Why? Because many people think that a healthy glow is part of a healthy look; because it is really convenient; and/or because they want that tanning "high."

People go to the gym to workout so they will look good; however, the UV exposure from those tanning beds will give them wrinkles, age spots, leathery skin ... and skin cancers or melanoma, the fatal form of skin cancer. Perhaps they cannot imagine that a health/fitness center selling health and fitness would also be selling cancer!

Skin cancer rates are continuing to climb, and yet these fitness centers are making the use of tanning beds more convenient than ever. According to the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, those who tan 1 or more times a month increase their risk of getting melanoma by 55%. And tanning bed use before age 35 increases the chances by 75%. 


A few additional problems with these tanning beds offered by fitness centers and gyms, aside from the obvious health issues, are

1. their cleanliness -- imagine all the people who worked out and then jumped into that bed, possibly naked, leaving behind all the sweat, germs, and even fecal material just for you!
2. their lack of regulation and maintenance -- who knows when the lamps were changed last or the bed calibrated, and we're talking radiation here!
3. unlimited availability -- which means more time for the UV radiation to damage more DNA 
4. lack of enforcement of eye protection -- which can damage eyes and cause cataracts and ocular melanoma. UV rays can penetrate through the eyelids, so simply closing your eyes in a tanning bed doesn't provide the necessary protection.
5. availability to minors -- even if state law restricts teens from using tanning beds in tanning salons

Using a tanning bed offers no benefits ... but it could offer a life-time of suffering ... for you or for the loved ones you leave behind. My daughter Jaime would be the first to tell you, if tanning had not killed her, that no tan is worth dying for!!

"Being fit equates with being tan" ... it's a confusing and dangerous message to send, and that is the message that health/fitness centers are sending when they offer tanning beds at their facilities. If the purpose of a fitness center is to promote good health ... then it makes no sense at all to offer indoor UV tanning. CVS was claiming to care about the health of their customers while selling a carcinogen (tobacco products) but has now taken the brave position to no longer sell those products. So then, why can't health/fitness centers step forward to protect the health of their customers instead of selling cancer through their tanning beds????


 Melanoma Mama (Jaime's mom, Donna)

http://www.facebook.com/donna.h.regen
http://www.facebook.com/jaime.regen.rea (Remember Jaime)
https://www.etsy.com/shop/sweetpea321 (Jjem Creations)
http://stores.ebay.com/Sweetpea321 (Jjem Creations)