WICHITA, Kansas – Every summer brings stories about skin cancer and the importance of sunscreen. Yet every year, the rate of melanoma climbs even higher. So what will it take to get people to listen? For a Derby woman, the risk never seemed real until it became personal.
It was her 18th birthday. She had not a care in the world. She was young, pretty and tan – a golden brown she would keep for the next decade.
"I have to go tan for this, or I have to be tan for that, and I always had an excuse,” said Heather Snyder. “I never ever thought that this would happen."
While pregnant with daughter Ella, a spot on Heather’s leg turned out to be cancerous. The melanoma had already spread to her lymph nodes.
"That day he diagnosed me, the next day I went into the tanning salon,” Heather said. “Obviously I canceled my package and just started bawling right then and there,”
At just 29 years old, Heather began a grueling year of chemotherapy.
“I was on four different chemo drugs at once,” she said. “My skin fell off, just kinda peeled off. My hair thinned, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, fever. February 12th we found out the cancer had come back already, so two months. I got two months after all that, I got two months."
Heather’s now taking an experimental drug that seems to be working. But at the very least, she hopes her fight for life will scare other sun worshippers.
“They don't get it 'til they know Heather,” said Dr. Steven Passman, dermatologist. “When you know Heather and what she goes through, then you become a fanatic about it."
These days Dr. Passman sees someone every week with a melanoma – what used to be an uncommon diagnosis. In 1935, there was a one in 1,500 chance of getting melanoma. Now, it’s one in 74.
"We know the incidence of melanoma is increasing three to five percent a year,” Dr. Passman said. “That's huge."
And he believes it will only get worse until our attitudes about being tan change.
"In 1900, if you were tan, that meant you worked in the field,” Dr. Passman said. “In 2000, it means you have leisure time and you're a jet-setter."
But tanning isn't the only culprit. Anyone who works outside without sunscreen is at risk. The fact is doctors don't know how much sun it takes to cause skin cancer. For some, one sunburn leads to melanoma. That’s why Dr. Passman recommends sunscreen with an SPF of 40 to 50 anytime you’re outside for an hour or more. And don’t be fooled thinking a base tan at the salon will protect you – that’s the equivalent of SPF 3.
“When you wear a shirt, a regular shirt, that's only an SPF of about 4,” Dr. Passman said. “You really out to wear sunscreen too if you're going to be out awhile."
It’s a lesson Heather is now teaching her children, protecting them from what she’s going through – a deadly disease with the odds stacked against her.
“Only about 10 percent of the people with Stage 4 melanoma survive five years, but I've kinda decided somebody has to be in that 10 percent,” Heather said. “I have two beautiful kids that I will fight for to the end.”
Both Heather and Dr. Passman tell people if you have to look tan, try the spray-on tans. They pose no threat to your skin. But, of course, they also offer no protection against the sun, so you’ll still need sunscreen.
