Hi everyone
i feel a bit silly coming on here but I just felt like I needed to get this off my chest and maybe some advice?
i was diagnosed with melanoma on October 2017 and had it removed and thankfully has not spread! However when it came to the first summer in 2018, I was scared to go outside in the sun. I was at university at the time so used the excuse of “oh I have tons of coursework to get on with etc”. And just sort of plodded along that summer and come winter I felt this huge relief that it wasn’t sunny anymore. So I’ve brushed it away and was hoping it was just because it was the first summer. But I’ve recently started a new job in January now and yesterday we had training but everyone wanted to sit outside and I just froze! And I’ve realised I don’t want to go through the same thing I had experienced last year all over again! I feel it’s because I just don’t know how to protect myself properly still. Told to not go out between 10am till 4pm when sun is highest doesn’t help as that just makes me feel that’s the best part of the whole day! I never know what clothes to cover up with because i just get boiling hot in the summer and then I’ve tried lots of different sun creams which either aggravate my skin or stain my clothes and feel this is all another stress on top of feeling anxious of going outside when it’s sunny. I feel maybe if I knew what things to get (e.g the best sun cream or where to get clothes to protect me but keep me cool) my anxiety may lessen? I know people have far worse problems then this and this is why I feel so silly asking what other people have done but just can’t keep feeling this way anymore.
Hopefully someone can offer some kind advice :-)
Hi and welcome to the Online Community but I am always sorry to see new folks finding us.
My cancer journey was rather different but at the same time there are some areas that I understand. I had a skin Lymphoma and had lots of skin treatments over the 20 years with 45 Radiotherapy Sessions and over 900 Light treatments to my skin so skin care and protection is very high up my to-do list.
But if you follow this LINK to our Melanoma Forum you will be able to connect with people who understand the path you are on.
Just join the group and hit the 'Start a Discussion' tab and introduce yourself to the group and remember to go to the right on the home page and indicate how you want to receive email notifications when someone answers your posts.
You will also find this Blog will be worth have a read through as it is full of tips for staying safe in the sun. Sensible sun protection will let you go out in the sun but the blog is great at looking at the important things to do.
You may also find our various Macmillan Support Line Services on 0808 808 00 00 helpful as you can talk to a friendly person that can help in various ways.
It would be really useful if you could put something into your profile as this does help others when replying to you or for those looking for support and information as they can read a bit about your journey so far.
Just click on your username and then select 'Edit Profile' under the 'Profile Settings'. If you're not sure what sort of thing to put just click on my username, Thehighlander to read my profile but my cancer journey was rather long.
All the best.
