How do you cope with a disease potentially looming

[SamanthaAU]

I found out the other day that I have an massively increased risk of melanoma due to using a sunbed years ago.

I have had a skin check up a little over 12 months ago and have another one next week.

But, how am I supposed to cope knowing that I have a 98% increased risk of this deadly cancer. Living in Australia doesn't help either.

Its one think worrying about something that is not wrong - but I can't work out how to cope with this. I feel like I am destined to get it, and for such a foolish reason that I can't change.

[Vixxy]

Hi there. You could flip this on its head. The rest of us have a normal risk of getting skin cancer, and because of this we wont be getting checked yearly. This could mean that we develop it without noticing.
Whereas you are getting checked yearly and are on high alert looking for it. So if anything does happen youll notice it and get it sorted quickly. Cancer is very treatable if caught early. So if the worst does happen youll be catching it early enough to fix it :)
I hope this helps.

[blue moon]

Hi Samantha.I came from Iran and have an olive complection and did not think about Melanoma's.I have had 5 BCC's removed from my neck and legs,the doctor said that they are OK but I still worry about them.
Petra x

[SamanthaAU]

Hi Samantha.I came from Iran and have an olive complection and did not think about Melanoma's.I have had 5 BCC's removed from my neck and legs,the doctor said that they are OK but I still worry about them.
Petra x

:(

[blueangel]

This is where statistics can be a real pain in the backside, and the media do this to us all the time. I've just had a quick look at the stats for Australia, and according to the info that I checked, it says that the average Australian has a 1 in 19 risk in getting melanoma - if they live to the age of 85(!). Therefore if you can make it to 85 (which is not bad going!), across that whole lifetime you have a 1 in 19 risk of developing the disease. Therefore your risk of developing it at the moment is still probably pretty low, even if you have used sunbeds a lot.

As Vixxy has already said, you are already in the monitoring loop, which is really useful as you have a much greater chance of anything being picked up when it's still small and very easy to treat.