The Comment My Dermatologist Made That Changed Everything

This article is part of Upstream, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.

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“Wow, you have a lot of moles,” the dermatologist said, studying my arm with some sort of magnifying device.

“I know,” I said since I had obviously seen myself before. It was my first skin cancer screening, aka “mole check.” I wrapped the papery gown so tight it became a bodycon mini dress and tried to seem relaxed as he parted my hair to see my scalp and thoroughly examined my ears, nose, palms, armpits, elbows, toes, and everything in between. Almost all of my moles looked weirder than the examples on the internet.

Three melanomas later, I’ve visited my dermatologist more often than I see my out-of-state family. But whenever I feel like Temu Frankenstein about my scars from mole removal surgeries, I’m grateful my doctor noticed changes in my most suspicious beauty marks before it was too late.

Maybe Ice Cube offered the best advice with the lyrics, “You better check yo’ self before you wreck yo’ self.” Still, when it comes to protecting your largest, best-looking organ, you might be thinking, “Do we really have to talk about skin cancer?” Other than the chances of shark attacks or the hidden dangers of seagull poo, it’s the Debbie Downer statistic of spring break: One in five people develop some sort of skin cancer in their lifetime.

Anyone can get skin cancer, no matter their skin tone. Every year in the U.S., more people get skin cancer than all the rest of the cancers combined. Women most often develop problematic spots on their legs, while men typically develop issues in the scalp, neck, and torso areas.  Of course, since it’s so common, it might seem like no big deal. But while most instances of skin cancer are preventable, those that aren’t diagnosed early enough can be fatal. 

That’s the devastating reality for 28-year-old “Hope Street” actor Finnian Garbutt. A devoted husband and father to a young daughter, he shared the news on Instagram this month that he had entered “the last stages” of his life. He was first diagnosed with stage 3 skin cancer five years earlier, after almost forgetting about an odd lump behind his ear. A native of Northern Ireland, he wasn’t a sun-worshipper, preferring the “boring” protection of shade. Now, he says he’s writing his daughter birthday cards she’ll be able to open after he’s gone.

“Most people associate [skin cancer] with older people, but it can affect anybody,” Garbutt said. “A lot of people have this preconception of, ‘Oh, it’s just skin cancer, you just cut it off and you’re fine.’ But melanoma, it’s deadly and it’s going to be the reason that I die.” 

It’s the kind of story that makes my heart drop to my stomach. As a teen, I slathered on Hawaiian Tropic SPF 4 (yep, that’s a “4,” not a typo), and sunbathed for hours on the beach. I lived for a tanning bed glow in winter. And as proof that I shouldn’t have been doing any of this based on my skin type, since moles increase the risk of melanoma, let me cite the random kid sitting behind me in high school who spent physics class secretly counting my visible moles, later informing me that I would be “completely covered” in moles by age 70. I’m not sure how that creeper science works out, but the sun damage is already done.

For me, keeping up with the greater than 99% survival rate for localized melanoma will be a lifelong mission dedicated to catching it before it spreads. Still, after the initial shock of finding out you have skin cancer, it’s alarmingly easy to fall back into a routine of not wearing sunscreen or postponing dermatology appointments that don’t involve facials.

So what can you do? As new cancer-preventing topical gels, vaccines, AI-based detection, and light therapies hit the market, a little basic skincare still goes a long way toward managing your risk. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends minimizing UV exposure by staying out of the sun and covering your skin. The Skin Cancer Foundation endorses broad-spectrum sunscreen SPF 30 or higher. And since the World Health Organization puts indoor tanning beds in the same category as asbestos, it’s best to skip those, too.

When it comes to those you care about, if you see something, say something. When he stopped by Bill Maher’s “Club Random” podcast this year, actor Tim Allen recalled how a makeup artist suggested he get a lesion on his nose checked out. “A lady at ‘The Today Show’ noticed it. She’s going, ‘I’m not a dermatologist, but you have — there’s something on your nose,’” Allen explained. After confirming it with his doctor, he had surgery to remove the cancerous spot. 

I discovered my most serious melanoma after my friend at the gym talked about the cancerous mole she just had removed. I say this with love: If she hadn’t been terrible at post-surgery care, recruiting everyone nearby to re-tape gauze to her back, I don’t think I would have realized it had been years since I’d had a skin cancer screening. Maybe I would be faced with a much different scenario now.

You can check out the National Cancer Institute’s test to determine your individual risk of skin cancer. Save the coconut-scented SPF 4 tanning oil to use as a room spray and pour another piña colada to sip in the shade.