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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (June 6, 2007)
12 Clackamas Print Wednesday, June 6, 2007 Safety in the sun Skin cancer is deadly and on the rise; protect yourself this summer Lydia Bashaw I The Clackamas Print Bacon: thick, pale slices of meat that smell so good when cooked. Drop them in a heated pan and watch them brown and get crispy. This deliciously dangerous food reacts the same way to heat as human skin - it gets darker and dries out. Just like bacon, which ends its life shortly after being cooked, too much sun on bare skin can end your life. With the summer months here, the sun is getting more dangerous every day. “People fail to realize the dangers the sun has on skin,” said Doctor John Antolik, a family physi cian. “Skin cancer has become one of the most common cancers today. It’s a very seri ous problem.” The most common cause of skin cancer is excessive exposure to the sun. Ultraviolet rays (UVR) cannot be felt on the skin and penetrate deep into our cells, caus ing changes that lead to skin cancer, skin ageing, sunburns and eye dam age. Even if you have dark skin, UVR can affect you. The sun does not have to be particularly hot to hurt your skin; in fact, it is most intense during midday. The best way to save your skin from frying is to wear sunscreen. It may be a hassle, but sunscreen could ulti mately save you a lot of pain and suffering later. Applying sunscreen 20 minutes before you go outside and reapplying often will help pro tect you. “Everyone needs to wear sun- screen, especially May through August,” said Antolik. “Sion cancer is a killer, and we need to be more .aware of that.” Buy sunscreen that is SPF 15 or higher and also broad spectrum, Which protects against different types of sunrays. Apply liberally, and make sure that all chil dren and babies are well-protected. To be safe, use shade whenever possible. Trees and umbrellas give your skin a rest from the destructive heat. The most impor tant thing to remem ber is that skin cancer is real. Tanning beds and the sun are the leading causes of skin cancer deaths, includ ing melanoma. Check your skin often, and look for unusual moles and marks. Be sure to contact a doctor if something is out of the ordinary. Doctor Antolik’s piece of advice: “Don’t believe you are invincible. It affects everyone, from black skin to the palest white. You can get skin cancer. Cover up with sunscreen or clothing. It could save your life.” Summertime and the swimming's easy; just be careful about it Andrea Simpson The Clackamas Print The last time I went to the beach, Pamela Anderson did not run out and save me from sinking to a watery grave - nor did David * Hasselhoff, for that matter. This summer, many people will enjoy going swimming in the ocean and the vari ous lakes and rivers in Oregon. But before you dive in, read up on your swimming safety. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, in 2004 there were 3,308 unintentional drownings in the United States. That averages nine people a day. There are many things you can do to pre vent accidents while in the water. This may sound obvious, but never swim alone. You may think you are the best swim mer in the world, but you never know when you will need the help of others. The buddy system is the number one way to stay safe. Never dive in after someone who is drowning. Many people drown within feet of safety. Practice the “Reach, Throw, Row, Don’t Go” method. Reach first with a pole or stick and instruct the victim to grab hold. If that doesn’t work, scan the area for milk jugs or an empty cooler that can be thrown in and used as a buoy. If there happens to be a boat nearby, row your way out to them. Never approach a swimmer with the motor of the boat on. Unless you are trained in lifeguard tech niques, you should never enter the water to save someone. When swimming in the ocean, every one should be aware of riptide^. Riptides are retreating waves that tend to have an extremely strong pull. If you feel yourself being sucked out by a riptide, the best thing you can do is swim parallel to shore until you don’t feel the tug of the tide anymore. Do not swim toward- shore. This takes a great deal of energy and'isn’t very effec tive. Educating yourself on how to swim is probably one of the most effective ways to prevent an accident. The American Red Cross offers swimming classes, as do most pools in the area. If you can be trained as a lifeguard, even better. Then, you can assist saving someone else. This summer, there is no need to stay out of the water - as long as you take these life saving precautions into consideration. Fashionable tan led to silent killer , Lydia Bashaw || The Clackamas Print . Clackamas resi dent Misty Hammond appears to have the perfect life. She is expecting her first child in February and is getting mar ried in two weeks. But the doctors say she is dying. The killer? The sun. . “When T was young, the sun didn’t scare me,” ;• said Hammond. “I have dark skin, dark hair and dark eyes. Who would have thought that I would be the one to get cancer?” Hammond, 23, was an addicted tan ner for eight years Photo contributed by Tiffany Hartl - she used to spend several days a week Hammond and fiancé Adamson |h 1 inside the tanning a tender moment. Hammond has ir bed or out in the chance of surviving her cancer.! n sun. Today, she has For Hammond, theld.v Lentigo Maligna Melanoma, was caught too late. Dei a form, of skin cancer. Inside tell her there are no treat: [ her home, there are pamphlets available to save her spread across the dining room Holdingehands with her fi ( table: Living with Melanoma, Greg Adamson, she shars 01 j Dealing with Cancer, How to truth about her disease! j ic pi Live Through Cancer. “This disease that I| 1 hpv . She knows very well why going to take my lif| iKe my nil, j]C she has cancer. Pulling her Hammond. ‘ “I " may noili1E .11 knees underneath her, she see my baby f go to her firs explained the lure of the sun, of school. I may not live l the desire to fit into a world her graduate or get ma with high expectations about — and it’s my own fault.’*'-- looks amongst her and other Accordingtgihe Ame young women. JB Cancer Society,/over 8 “Back then, we all thought sand people die a year having a tan was sexy; now, I melanoma, more thanBi see it, as a deadly attraction,” thepi women. In 2006/ said Hammond. “We all think 59 thousand people were that without that extra color nosed with melanoma, a' / on our legs and arms that we cent increase from 1990 aren’t pretty. We think that we dangers of. skin cancer have to have the same tan as menial to most, but the Jennifer Aniston, but we never bers are rising. Jon realize the consequences of “I wish I could tell eve < following our stupid expecta I meet that the sun is a k tions about body image.” said Hammond. “I wish With lovely dark hair and every person could kno an olive skin tone, Hammond real dangers. It’s slowly could pass for a movie star. a hold on my life, an«Hl She does not seem like the continue to do so. There’ type doctors would warn about way to curb the sun. It’ the sun. In fact, she is the not possible; we have¿q opposite of the pale, freckled it into our own hands. W 16 girls who are often cautioned With three weeks ¡til tor to wear sunscreen, but she wedding, Hammond - knows firsthand that the sun Adamson struggle to 1 lai does not discriminate. decisions about the fu “I wish someone would Who should give the have told me that skin cancer speech at their rehearsal is possible for everyone,” she ner? What should they said. “I don’t get the chance to their baby? Should they fix this. There are no second into a bigger place with a chances.” one on the way? ■ • But Hammond is trying to The one question make a difference by increas doesn’t come up: Is this ing the awareness of skin cer going to ruin our live cancer, especially among her “We have decided!to friends and family. Next to forward. We are putting s ? the doorway of the apartment energy towards this mai she shares with her fiancé is a and this child,” said Apai bottle of Coppertone SPF 40. “I love Misty with my y. “I won’t let anyone leave heart. Wherever this c the house without applying takes her, I will be there ‘ some to their bare skin,” she Hammond knows that said. “It’s become an obses cannot save her from Ithc., sion. When I have my baby, son in her body. She 1U1 the first thing it will learn is that she will be lucky to the importance of listening. more than a few yearlwi Doctors don’t lie to us; they treatment, which shegde mean it when they say some not to go through becau thing is bad for us.” concerns about the effec Hammond was diagnosed her child. with advanced melanoma three “The hard truth islth. months ago. Her first child, a tfie end, I’m not going tc girl, is due near the end of cancer. It’s not possitje, February 2008. can live my life happily, Lentigna Maligna said. “I just wish moil p Melanoma carries a death rate would listen to the warnii of 70 percent, giving one in would never wish this on three a chance of living five one. Skin cancer is real.”**- years.
