Patient Shares Story, Advises Regular Skin Cancer Checks

Posted on Dec 9, 2011 | 0 comments

If you grew up in a beach town in the 1970s and 80s as I did, working on your summer tan was pretty much a rite of passage. Lie out, burn, tan, repeat. As teenagers, we never thought we’d have to worry about our skin later in life. Well, now it’s later in life and, at age 40, I am so happy to have met the wonderful dermatology staff at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation.

PAMF Dermatologist Dr. Kirstin Vin-Christian has been terrific at monitoring my skin for changes, and sure enough, she found some problems. One mole she had been watching, reached the point that it was a borderline melanoma – certainly progressing in that direction. Although the surgical excision was not exactly fun, she made me feel at ease by chatting about our kids throughout the whole process. She’s a lovely person and a terrific doctor. And now I tell every friend I grew up with back in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to go and get their skin checked! It could save your life.

Thank you to PAMF patient Melanie Norall for submitting this post to the “Stories” section of the PAMF blog.