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)

Sweety Mama for Sex in Pretoria

Huh??? I am not a Sweety Mama ... definitely not a Sexy Mama ... and I don't even know where Pretoria is. However, I did Google it and found that it is the capital of South Africa ... so now I know! And now you know that geography was not my best subject!

But back to my story -- this is a keyword phrase that someone used to find my blog. Now I have no clue about the connection between this search and my blog, other than my blog title Melanoma Mama, but I am very grateful for every single reader that I get, even if they stumble across my blog by accident!

But just to be very clear ... there is nothing sexy about melanoma. Unless, of course, you think the scars it leaves, both inside and out, are sexy. Or unless you think puking your guts out or that nonstop itchy rash or painful mouth sores or maybe severe diarrhea following treatments has sex appeal. Or perhaps the thought that waking up each morning of your life filled with the fear that this monster disease could end it whenever it likes turns you on. Somehow, I think not. I'm pretty sure that we can all agree that sexy and melanoma do not belong in the same sentence ... and certainly not in the same blog!

Something else that is not sexy is unread blogs! Since jumping into the blogosphere 5 months ago, I do often wonder, especially when my latest blog is published and I can count the readers without even using my toes, "Why DO I blog?"

Some melanoma bloggers are medical professionals and researchers who are experts in their fields and are sharing medical data or concerns. Some bloggers are melanoma patients who blog from diagnosis to their current treatment, to chronicle their journey and perhaps to keep friends and loved ones aware of what and how they are doing. Some blog for the healing quality of putting thoughts and fears into written form, releasing all that heavy emotion from their minds and hearts and onto the blog page.

I fall into none of these categories. I am not even close to being an expert in the field of medicine, although after 16 years in the melanoma community, I have learned more than I ever wanted to know about melanoma along the way. My daughter Jaime was my cancer survivor, but no longer. Now her story is of the harsh reality of melanoma, so sadly I have no need to keep family and friends updated on her status. And as I tell Jaime's story of tanning bed use and the resulting melanoma, I honestly find it more painful than healing.

So why do I blog? I blog for the same reason that I post daily on Facebook and flood Twitter with thousands of tweets ... because I am obsessed with melanoma awareness. I see blogging as one more way to spread the message about the dangers of tanning and the threat of melanoma. It is an expansion to patient advocacy. My blogs might share sun safety or melanoma information, or I might share stories about Jaime, or I might discuss a controversial issue. Whatever the topic, my hope is that people will take a minute to read and think ... and perhaps take action so that their lives or the lives of their loved ones will travel a different path than mine has.

I don't blog to hear myself; I don't blog for my benefit. I don't blog for fame or notoriety; I don't blog for financial gain. I don't blog to attract new clients/customers/business; I don't blog because my job requires it. I don't blog to advance a political agenda; I don't blog to spread any religious ideology. I don't blog as a patient or caregiver; I don't blog for therapy. I don't blog because I have to; I don't blog because I need to. Simply ... I blog for you!

In order for this blogging endeavor to work, however, I need your help. I ask

(beg??) that you actually read my blogs and, if you find value in them, share with your friends. You can even subscribe on my blog page so you will receive notice as each new blog is published. I can fill blogs with my thoughts, information, and stories, but if no one reads it, it is worthless and a huge waste of my time. That said, your comments would also be appreciated so I know that I have touched you, educated you, enlightened you ... or even bored you. I would also love to hear any suggestions for topics you would be interested in reading about.

So, why do I blog? I blog for a reason ... and that reason is you! But I still can't help but wonder if the person using that search term ever found that sweety mama for sex in Pretoria???


 Melanoma Mama (Jaime's mom, Donna)

Twitter: @melanoma_mama
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/donna.h.regen
http://www.facebook.com/jaime.regen.rea (Remember Jaime)

http://www.facebook.com/BanTheBeds (Pull the Plug on Tanning Beds)
Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/sweetpea321 (Jjem Creations)
Ebay: http://stores.ebay.com/Sweetpea321 (Jjem Creations)