SKIN CANCERS AND THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE

[Lon]

I have spent a lot of time in New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Cook Islands, Tonga in the 26 years that I have been retired. I went to see my Dermatologist today and was treated with radiation to several squamous & basal cell skin cancers. This has been a on going process over a number of years. Dr. tells me that even though I used lotion, 30 minutes of sun exposure in the So. Hemisphere is like 2 hours in California. The sun is more intense.

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[jp1]

I hope this wasn’t your first trip to the dermatologist! My SIL is a fair skinned 70 year old who has lived in San Diego her whole life. Back in her misspent youth she spent a lot of time at the beach. Now she goes to the skin doc every few months for a follow up on something concerning from her last visit and they whack off another small part of her body. Presumably they will keep ahead of things and just keep playing wack-a-mole with her skin until she eventually dies of something else.

[Lon]

No this was not my first trip. I have gone many times in the past 40 years & there will be more to come.