Dare to Dream

Last Friday was just a normal Friday ... or as normal as the Friday before Christmas could be ... until I received a notice from the FDA of a HUGE, earth-shattering announcement. They were proposing a ban against tanning bed use for all minors under 18 in the US! I had heard through the grapevine that this ban was coming, but I didn't know when. And I wasn't holding my breath because I'd been holding it for too many years already. Then suddenly, last Friday became AMAZING! The planets had aligned!!

It was almost 6 years ago that presentations were made at a FDA hearing on the issue of teens and tanning beds. One of my friends from the melanoma community gave this presentation that included Jaime's story. 

Her presentation was one of many that shared stories about how tanning beds had changed or destroyed young lives. The hearings seemed promising ... but then the waiting game began. If you know me, you know that I am not a patient person, so ...

In the meantime, my attention turned to state legislation when Texas introduced a bill to restrict children under 16 from using tanning beds. Even though it wasn't the under-18 bill that I was dreaming of (and many thought it was just a foolish pipe dream!), it was a step in the right direction. With help from Jaime's story, it passed, which was surprising for such a conservative state. (And eventually, a full under-18 tanning bed ban would pass as well!)

Others began to share my seemingly impossible dream of an under-18 ban in every state. I'm not sure I even really believed that it was possible ... but I was being pushed ahead by some energy and force that insisted I just keep going. (Thank you, Miss J!) Then along came AIM at Melanoma, working on an under 18 tan ban in California, and I was hooked! Although it was far from easy, it passed! Twelve other states would follow to pass under-18 tan ban laws, but for years many more tried and failed. I am proud, along with Jaime and many, many others, to have been part of most of these difficult battles, but my dream was that all 50 states would pass these laws to protect their children by keeping them out of tanning beds ... and there was a long way to go.

Then just as my energy was draining and my dream was dimming, last year the FDA renewed its focus on under-18 use of tanning beds. It announced a strong recommendation against the use of UV devices by all minors. Many of us thanked them, but also let them know that it just wasn't enough.

And that led to Friday's announcement. Now there will be a 90-day period to respond to their proposal, and assuming it will be adopted ... that will put it becoming official just about on the 9th anniversary of Jaime's death!

The stories of all the melanoma victims whose cancer was brought on by tanning bed use have been heard, including my Jaime's. The years of hard work by thousands of supporters for this teen tan ban are FINALLY bearing fruit. Many lives will be saved!! I am proud to have played a role in this, and my sincere thanks go out to everyone who contributed to making this happen, to those who dared to dream.

But wait ... we're not done yet with the indoor tanning industry! Visit and "like" our Facebook group Pull the Plug on Tanning Beds to keep updated regarding our continuing efforts. Now that we have seen the impossible become possible, there is no dream too big!!

Melanoma Mama (Jaime's mom, Donna)

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)
https://www.etsy.com/shop/sweetpea321 (Jjem Creations)
http://stores.ebay.com/Sweetpea321 (Jjem Creations)

A Note from Mom Doesn't Block the Rays

Many state legislatures are currently considering bills to restrict teens from using tanning beds. They got the part right about wanting to ban minors from their use because the increasing popularity of tanning beds is related to the climbing rates of skin cancer and melanoma, the fatal type of skin cancer. Actually from 1970 to 2009, the incidence of melanoma has increased by 800% among young women and 400% among young men, and it continues to rise at around 3.1% a year. However, the legislators seem to be confused about what type of legislation they want ... or perhaps it is how much can they restrict and still get re-elected? 

Five states are determined to protect ALL their kids from the dangers of the excessive UV radiation that comes from tanning beds -- California, Vermont, Texas, Illinois, and Nevada. [Update: As of 2017, this number has grown to 15 states.] Oregon also has an under 18 ban on tanning beds, but it includes a physician's permission exception. [Update: Washington state has same legislation as Oregon in 2017.] Since we know that there are no medical or health benefits from the use of tanning beds, which is not the same as phototherapy, this sends a very confusing message to an already very confused public. But that is a whole other blog! 

Parental consent tanning bills don't work

Much of the legislation being discussed this year includes a parental permission exclusion. And I am here to tell you from painful personal experience that parental consent laws simply do not work ... and they certainly don't prevent melanoma. 

It is, however, logical to think that parental consent bills should be appropriate. A parent should be able to decide and control what activities their children participate in. And until recently, as far as tanning bed use goes, parents have had that responsibility ... and they have failed terribly. 

Currently 28 million people use tanning beds every year [Update: In 2017 that number has risen to 30 million], and 2.3 million of those are teens -- all participating in risky behavior knowing what we know about the relationship between UV radiation and cancer. According to the Center for Disease Control, "A tan does NOT indicate good health. It is a response to injury." And that injury to your skin opens the door to a life of fear and pain.

If parents knew the facts about the dangers of indoor tanning, ZERO kids would be permitted to use them. And unfortunately, that is not the case. In fact, studies have shown that many teens get their start in tanning beds by going with their moms ... some sort of bizarre bonding ritual!



There are laws for minors regarding alcohol and tobacco that don't require or allow a parent to consent. Why should tanning bed use, exposing our children to cancer-causing radiation, be any different? Parents have so many parenting decisions to make that I seriously doubt that they would miss this one.

Even the permission forms that parents are asked to sign before their child can tan,

From skincancer.org

at least the ones I have seen, are problematic. Yes, they do alert parents to the risks to some extent ... but do they state that it could KILL your child?!

 

 

 

 

Indoor tanning industry's web of lies and myths

I'm sure parents hear the warnings from the medical community and melanoma advocates like me, but they also have the indoor tanning industry pulling them in the opposite direction, weaving a web of lies and myths. 

In Texas there are laws against the tanning salons being able to advertise any benefits to tanning bed use other than cosmetic ... but what they tell potential customers is probably a different story. It certainly was years ago when I was faced with the decision-making process of deciding what was right for my daughter Jaime.

Here is some of my testimony before the Texas House and Senate health committees:

          "FACT: Parental consent laws do not work.

Jaime was our princess, our precious baby girl. As a teenager, Jaime was bubbly, outgoing, and popular and wanted to do what all her friends were doing … use tanning beds. I was a busy working mom with 3 teenagers, having a difficult time keeping track of all their activities. It wasn’t until the day Jaime came home from school with a sunburn that I realized she was using tanning beds. Texas had a parental consent law in place at the time, and Jaime had been signing my name to the forms. But that’s not all.

FACT: The indoor tanning industry is misleading customers.

Not knowing whether these tanning beds were safe for her, I went to the tanning salon with her to ask questions. They gave me lots of information, but it was misinformation, which proved to be deadly. They assured me that the beds were safe … because the government won’t allow them if they weren’t. They also told me that with her pale skin, she needed to develop a base tan in the beds to protect her from the sun. There was never a mention of skin cancer … or any risks for that matter. So unfortunately, I bought into their slick marketing and gave them my money … and signed away my child’s life. And although that was 20 years ago, they are still holding on to their false claims."

Rights vs responsibility

The bottom line with parental permission exceptions in teen tan ban bills: A note from mom does not make tanning beds any less dangerous. If we want to protect the children of this country from unnecessary cancer, we need to change our thinking. Perhaps instead of being concerned with our parental rights, we need to thinking about our parental responsibilities. We need to realize that as parents, our role should be to demand that our lawmakers make public health decisions to protect our children based on sound research and medical data -- and not for political reasons. The health and safety of our children should trump everything, including parental rights.


For more information on melanoma and/or on the status of state teen tanning bed restrictions, see www.aimatmelanoma.org


 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)

What Is It Going to Take???

Really ... I was really going to try to go easy on you and not be so prolific with these blogs; however, it is difficult to curb my enthusiasm because so many different topics come to my attention every day that I want to share with you. And yesterday a very important study (International Prevalence of Indoor Tanning) was released in JAMA Dermatology about the use and abuse of tanning beds, and I just couldn't help myself!

When I read that the databases for this research were last accessed on March 16, 2013, I knew it was destined for a blog. March 16 marks the anniversary of my daughter Jaime's death, and unfortunately, I am (along with too many others) the face of reality where tanning beds and melanoma are concerned.

The results of this study are sad ... no, worse than that ... they are devastating. The use of tanning beds is much worse than we had previously thought.

• Over 1 in 3 adults (35%) in the US have used tanning beds in their lifetime; 13% of adults in the US and Canada have used them in the past year. 

And it gets even more heart-breaking.

• The majority of college students in the US (59%) have used them, 43% in the past year. 

But wait ... there's more.

• In Western countries, 1 in 5 (19%) adolescents 18 and younger (17% in US and Canada) have used indoor tanning, with 18% (10% in US) having used them in the past year. 

That's a lot of DNA damage going on right there!

This new study also states the astounding fact that almost a half a million new cases of skin cancer (and more than 10,000 melanoma cases) are attributable to indoor tanning each year in the US and Canada, Europe, and Australia. Or to put it another way ... JAMA Dermatology says that "it is possible that the number of skin cancer cases due to indoor tanning will continue to surpass the number of lung cancer cases due to smoking in coming years." That boggles my mind!

Why is this important, you ask. Very simply, tanning beds cause cancer, cancer that can kill you. Just ask me to tell you Jaime's story! And why should you care? Because at the rates melanoma cases are increasing, you or a loved will be touched by this horrific disease ... and it will not be pretty.

The facts are that the World Health Organization has classified tanning beds and their UV radiation as a Group 1 carcinogen (cancer-causing substance) along with plutonium, arsenic, and tobacco. The risk of melanoma, a too-often fatal form of skin cancer, increases by 75% when tanning beds are first used before the age of 35. Research has shown us that using a tanning bed even once increases the risk of a melanoma diagnosis by 20%, with each additional session adding 2% to that risk. 


And yet, over 1 million people use tanning beds every day, making the $5 billion indoor tanning industry very happy. For some reason, our cries of concern over tanning bed use are falling on deaf ears. Jaime has even been yelling from her grave that a tan isn't worth dying for!!! Yet the tanning salons continue to successfully lure adults and kids alike into their cancerous webs. What more can we do? What will make people stop and listen ... and think? How many more have to die before the light bulb goes on and people recognize that tanning bed use is extremely risky behavior??? There MUST be an answer somewhere out there ...


Read the full report here (http://archderm.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1818976)

 
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)

Stepping into Unknown Territory

Blog #1   This blogging stuff is new (and frankly a little scary!) to me, but writing isn't. I have written extensively about my daughter Jaime's 9-year journey with melanoma, about melanoma awareness, about the dangers of tanning beds and the need for legislation to ban minors from their use. I have filled pages of Facebook, both mine and Jaime's; I have tweeted tens of thousands of tweets on Twitter. I have responded in the comment sections of hundreds of newspaper/TV reports on the internet; I have penned letters to the editors. Over the past 6 years I have shared Jaime's story of tanning and melanoma with thousands of state legislators across the country; I have written and presented testimony four times to the Texas legislature. In my past life (life before melanoma) I was a copy editor ... so words and writing are not new to me ... but blogging certainly is. So please be gentle.

I have lots of mostly melanoma-related topics rattling around in my head ... some are controversial and some not so much. I will tell you the story of my Jaime and how hard she fought the Black Beast (AKA melanoma) with more strength and courage than I ever could. I will touch on my almost 7-year struggle with the grief of losing her. I will share fond and fun memories and the reminders that she sends me to let me know that she has not gone far.

Also along the way, you will become an expert on sun safety, and you may even become an activist for teen tan ban legislation. And you will come to know melanoma for the evil disease that it is. At least that is my plan.

Together we can make great things happen ... so this blog is not just about me and Jaime and our feelings/experiences. It is about all of US and how we can join forces to find a CURE so that no one wakes up each day to the fear and torture of melanoma or to the hole it has ripped in our heart!!!

Thank you for helping me feel my way through this first blog --
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)