I think the scenario I'm about to lay out is a familiar one for plenty of us in rural Queensland - the lambmarking pen in my teenage years, working alongside others of a similar age, one of them a young male with his shirt off.
The rest of us remained fully clothed - apart from anything else, the lambs' wool was full of burrs! This is a few years ago now but even then we were aghast that someone would purposely expose themselves to the full force of the sun for more than a few minutes.
When we asked if the person was worried about skin cancer, the reply was, "They'll have invented a cure by the time I need to worry".
Well, I'm here to remind that person, and all the other teenagers who are still hotwired to believe they're invincible, that cure for cancer hasn't waved its magic wand over us in the melanoma capital of the world yet.
I know that because I'm just as culpable as the others on that winter morning in the sheepyards, and all the years afterwards, when I thought I was in too much of a hurry to bother slapping on a quick layer of sunscreen.
I'm not long out of surgery for yet another disfiguring skin cancer on my face - 11 years ago I lost half my eyebrow to surgery to remove a squamous cell carcinoma; this time it was a basal cell carcinoma growing on my ear.
Situated on that cartilage ridge, it wasn't all that easy to cut off, and as well as grafting skin from behind my ear to fill the hole, it was on one of those tender parts of your body that has more nerve endings and just hurts more.
As well as the discomfort, I've had to fork out the dough for a surgeon, anaesthetist, nurse, and hospital stay.
Oh, and the time off work and cost of travelling to Brisbane and back, and I have to front up for a post-op visit as well.
It might not have been a melanoma this time, but it could be next time, and it's cost me tons in cash, lost time and stress.
We were contacted recently by a dermatological practice in central Queensland that had in one week detected three melanomas on young people who had no idea that they even had one, if it weren't for skin checks that were made available to them.
It's a tough gig to get people to understand that all that sunbathing coated in oil, and the caps worn because they sit better on a bike than a hat with a brim, all have a price to pay down the track.
- Talk of the North is a weekly opinion piece written by ACM journalists. The thoughts expressed are their own.
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Sally Gall
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
