Marilyn's Story

To Marilyn, it seemed like it all started with a small blister on her neck. She knew it was there, but like most people, didn’t really give it a lot of attention. At the time, she didn’t know much about skin cancer and she couldn’t even spell melanoma.

But it had actually started long before she found that blister. As a child, she had been a swimmer, diver, and lifeguard. She was an avid beach-goer and she even used tanning lamps to achieve her perfect tan.

“I was always in the sun, never using protection,” Marilyn said. “Being tan was - and still is - cool. It makes you look better.”

To get more sun, she would go to extremes. She’d put iodine in baby oil, use sun mirrors, and lay out during the most harmful hours of the day, between 10 and 4. Little did she know the damage she was causing to her skin.

Fast forward to October of 1999. Marilyn sees her dermatologist, Dr. Michael Bigby, about the blister on her neck. It turned out to be just a pre-cancerous basil cell. By catching it early, Dr. Bigby assured her she had no reason to be concerned.

Since she was at his office, she decided to go ahead and have him check out some moles on her back. Marilyn recounts, “My mother used to call them beauty marks, so I wasn’t particularly concerned.”

“In fact,” she continued, “Two general practitioners within the previous six months had told me the moles looked okay.”

Dr. Bigby informed Marilyn one of the moles should be biopsied. He did the biopsy and sent the samples to the lab for testing. Five days later, the doctor called Marilyn with the most shocking news of her life: She had malignant melanoma.

“I had no idea what that meant,” she said. “But believe me, I was scared. All I could think about was chemotherapy, losing my hair, and dying...I couldn’t have cancer!”

The following month, Marilyn had an operation to remove the mole and surrounding skin area, leaving a six-inch scar. Fortunately, her melanomas had not metastasized or spread into the lymph nodes and the surgery had been able to remove all the tissue surrounding the cancerous cells.

By surviving skin cancer, Marilyn felt the need to help others learn from her experience. In May 2002, she organized a “Skin Cancer Awareness” Day for employees of Delta Air Lines. Since then, her program has screened more than 1,200 people, leading to the discovery of two melanomas and a number of pre-cancerous spots. Because of these screenings, lives were saved. It was then she decided to dedicate her full efforts to the education and prevention of skin cancer.

“I want to promote healthy sun exposure and help others—just like me—to avoid the scare I went through,” Marilyn states. “I was one of the lucky ones. Sadly, we just don’t take skin cancer seriously here in the United States. To date, there are more than 1 million new skin cancers diagnosed each year with approximately 10,000 of those people dying.”

“In fact, one person dies of skin cancer every 67 minutes,” she stated.

Marilyn considers herself very lucky to have caught her skin cancer early and stopped it from spreading. Her purpose in life now is to create a nationally recognized event attracting dermatologists and medical educators to help educate others about the harmful dangers of excessive sun exposure and to teach individuals and other medical professionals simple safety measures to avoid skin cancer. SCAN will also generate funds for skin cancer research in pursuit of a cure for skin cancer.

Being a survivor has changed Marilyn’s life forever. She still enjoys the sun, but she plays smarter now. Two years ago, she took up scuba diving and spends hours each summer swimming with her nieces. She plays golf and enjoys other outdoor activities. But today, she avoids the harsh sun between 10-4 and uses correct sunscreen and protective clothing— such as hats, jackets, sunglasses, and umbrellas. Marilyn, like so many others, has already done a tremendous amount of damage to her skin. However, by taking precautions and having periodic checkups with a dermatologist, she expects to be spending a lot more time in the sun—only this time, safely!