Too Much Sun

I. Am. Sunburned.

Too much yard work even with #50 sunblock but I made a lot of progress, got my drip irrigation set up and working so it will all be automatic now. But I'm absolutely glowing right now and sleeping tonight will be hell.

With my pale Scandinavian skin I try to be very careful, I never go out unless slathered in sunblock, wearing a hat etc. Thankfully I don't burn all that easily, which you'd never believe if you saw me - fish belly white comes to mind. Not to mention that I am getting to the age when you don't want to actively seek out anything that will contribute to your wrinkles - they are doing fine on their own. But my care with the sun comes from another reason, one patient I just can't forget.

I had a patient a few years ago that came in for vomiting. He was in his mid-forties and had metastatic melanoma. He hadn't noticed the unusual mole on his back - it was discovered after a visit to the doctor for some shortness of breath that just wouldn't go away. A chest X-ray showed multiple lesions in his lungs. Multiple rounds of treatment with remissions and relapses later he was now in our ER with a bowel obstruction from the multiple metastatic lesions in his abdomen. The lesions were also now in his brain, liver and bones.

His pain was agonizing despite massive doses of narcotics. He weighed 97 pounds. A mere skeleton covered with a frail, tissue paper coating of yellowed skin. His hair, once lush and wavy, was now just a few brittle strands. He had bedsores on his bottom. If you have ever questioned whether hell exists, it does - and this poor man was in it.

We admitted him for pain management and I heard he died later that day. I've always remembered that man. I am religious about checking my skin and go to the dermatologist regularly also. Dying from melanoma is a horrible way to go. A now I've got this sunburn...........