A Good tip, its worth reading through this post. Thank you all for your kind wishes.

For all you runner who may not cover your heads or even ears, it might be worth considering it even in this miserable damp dull climate. I was diagnosed with skin cancer on Thursday, never been a sun worshiper, probably because we don't see much of it here. I always dismissed warnings. But it might be worth in particular guys with thin covering thinking about a cap or a trendy baseball cap. Aparently I might end up looking like spock, but I'll live.

[AncientMum Graduate]

Oh crumbs! Bad luck! Really hope all's well. It's a timely reminder that, what we think of as a mild climate, can creep up behind you and bite you in the bum. Well, not literally the bum, you'd be hard pressed to get enough sun there to cause a problem, but you know what I mean. I'll be sure to slap on the factor 50 before going out tomorrow morning.

Take good care of yourself Mr Spock, Sweetie. Live long and prosper

[Hidden in reply to AncientMum]

Thank you, you wouldn't believe it possible given how little sun we see!

[davelinks Graduate in reply to Hidden]

The sun doesn't have to be shining, the rays get through cloud.. take care..

[Hidden in reply to AncientMum]

Thank you.

[Dunnja Graduate]

Hey, real sorry to hear that but very glad to hear you will be OK.

That is sound advice that I doubt many of us really consider. I have a very full head of hair but will think twice about covering up now.

Thank you for sharing

Take care of you

Jules xx

[Hidden in reply to Dunnja]

Thank you

[Realfoodieclub Graduate]

Sorry to hear your news and I am glad they can sort it out for you. Wise words, I know I should wear suncream more than I do especially now I am outdoors more than I have ever been before. Thanks for sharing.

[Hidden in reply to Realfoodieclub]

Thank you.

[Noaky12 Graduate]

Glad all sounds like it will be well but still not good.

Strangely I'm almost paranoid about using suncream & hats EXCEPT when running. Must change that now...

[Hidden in reply to Noaky12]

Thank you

[Hidden]

Well to give a bit more info. Its not how they show you pictures of skin cancer in the news, it doesn't look like a mole or scaly. I started with a couple of years ago and even showed it to my GP, who dismissed it as nothing. Around 6 months ago, it would bleed and scab over, but no pain whatsoever, I simply thought I was rubbing the scab off when I slept and it wasn't getting chance to heal. I went back to my GP 4 weeks ago, who was honest enough to say, he didn't know what it was, I said "I don't think its cancer" and he agreed, he referred me to a dermatologist. He asked me questions like "did I spend much time in the sun" lol, as if. I said it could be rust. He looked at it and said "I beg to differ with your GP" It is skin cancer! So anybody with anything unusual, don't wait or ignore it and if its still there a few weeks later, ask for another opinion. He said I would lose part of my ear and I will no longer have the natural curvature of my ear, how much they will remove I do not know yet. So do cover up and take no chances, rich coming from me I know.

[Coddfish Graduate]

Oh your poor thing. Wishing you a full and speedy recovery.

[Hidden in reply to Coddfish]

Thank you, very kind of you.

[LyndaM Graduate]

Wishing you all the best with your treatment. Thanks for sharing - you never know pointing this out may lead to someone else not ignoring a symptom and getting checked out.

[Hidden in reply to LyndaM]

Thank you, its very kind of you to say.

[Fitfor60 Graduate]

Oh sorry to hear your news Thank you for sharing . Hope all goes well with your treatment

[Hidden in reply to Fitfor60]

Thank you.

[poppypug Graduate]

All the best Ian xxx Good luck with the treatment , hope it's sorted out quickly for you xxx

[Hidden in reply to poppypug]

Thank you Poppy, that's very kind of you.

[Rignold]

That's a bum deal, dude. But at least it's been diagnosed now and can be dealt with. Hope your treatment goes smoothly.

It is a bizarre tightrope we tread in this country between vitamin D deficiency and melanoma.

[Hidden in reply to Rignold]

Thank you Rig

[ancientrunner Graduate in reply to Rignold]

So so true. Last year I came out of one gp visit needing high dose vit d and a sun related lesion removing.

[davelinks Graduate]

I've had a few lesions removed from the temple area. I always moisturise everyday and make sure the cream has at least an SPF 15 rating, not been keen to wear a hat when running, gets hot sweaty and uncomfortable for me, but wear one otherwise..

[Sparkyifhungry Graduate]

You know, I'll take that advice and slap the sun screen on next time I'm out.

Thanks for sharing, I know you must have a lot on your plate with that diagnosis but grateful that you thought of your fellow runners and their well being. Xx

[Hidden in reply to Sparkyifhungry]

Thank you so much.

[Eastofthegate Graduate]

Wishing you well.

I have a family history of skin cancer so try to be careful, but thankyou for the timely reminder

[Hidden in reply to Eastofthegate]

Thank you

[poppypug Graduate]

Did you do Parkrun today ? How was the knee , or were you marshalling ? xxx

[Hidden]

I did the timekeeper roll today Poppy, Knee seems to be feeling a bit better, its so tempting to do the fun run in the morning, but common sense should prevail.

[poppypug Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Yes , best rest it for a bit xxx

[ancientrunner Graduate]

Good luck - hope it goes well.

[Hidden]

Wishing you the very best for treatment and speedy recovery. I'm am very fair skinned and there is family history of skin cancer. A good reminder, thank you for sharing.

[islandrunner Graduate]

Good luck. My husbands grandfather has a few lesions removed from ears and head over the years. It's a very survivable condition.

[no-excuse Graduate]

Sorry to hear HB, I really hope everything goes well for you. Makes you think, and your sound advice will be taken. All the best matey! x

[Hidden in reply to no-excuse]

Thank you, very kind of you

[gary_bart]

Where I live, I'd better heed that warning. I go quite dark quite quickly in the sun, but that doesn't make me at all immune to this danger. A Tamil friend of my late uncle's once said that he gets sunburn if he's out long enough (I think it was when they were fishing and accidentally capsised their craft, and spent a few hours adrift). I'd imagined that the main practical benefit of being very dark is that you can spend as much time as you like in the sun, but apparently that's not so. Everyone needs to take some precautions, not just those who turn into lobsters if a cloud moves.

That said, this is really shutting the stable door long after the horse has gone, come back for some oats, and then gone again. I've also been burnt to every shade of red for years on end, and have lived outdoors at times. Or alternatively this is the right time not to add that last straw to the load on that poor camel's back, hey?

I hope the treatment sorts out your cancer for good. And one good thing about living in the 21st century is that the cancer treatments of our times seem to be getting more and more successful.

[Hidden in reply to gary_bart]

Thank you

[Sandraj39 Graduate]

So sorry to hear your news and I really hope things will be ok - healing vibes coming your way. And yes, it certainly acts as a timely reminder to all of us to get such things checked out. Take care.

[ju-ju- Graduate]

Blimey that's a wake up call im so sorry... And Thankyou for taking the time to post here and remind us, you are quite right and it's so easy to forget... Take care and a swift recovery too...

[Hidden in reply to ju-ju-]

Thank you Juicy

[GoogleMe Graduate]

Good post. My mother has just had a sizeable cancer cut out of her face and at least for a while she is going to have a very obvious and complicated scar. It would have been smaller had she sought professional advice earlier (she only went to the GP when I waggled my finger and told her she was on her second official nag... and I didn't start anything like early enough) Not sure hers was sun related. My sister in law has just had to go back and have a larger area removed. I am no basker and wear wide brimmed hats in the Summer and SPF moisturiser but I have sun damage.

Tops of ears are a classic. I hope you are OK with the change in your appearance - sometimes these things can catch you out when you thought you weren't the kind of person to be bothered (eg my husband was very upset about his appendicitis scar)

Buffs make jolly good running hats in my opinion.

[Hidden in reply to GoogleMe]

Thank you

[Arrietty Graduate]

Sorry to hear this. Good luck with the treatment.

[aliboo70]

sorry to hear that HB, hope you get it all sorted, and get well soon from your treatment. x

[Hidden in reply to aliboo70]

Thank you

[catchmeifucan]

...very sobering reminder that we can't take good health for granted! I hope all your treatment goes well. Best wishes.

[Idolitorus Graduate]

Wow. That is awfully hard. Thank you for still thinking of others whilst you are dealing with this, that is truly wonderful. It is good advice and I will take it on board.

You have the absolute best of luck with your recovery.

M.

[Vixchile Graduate]

I am so sorry to hear that and hope you have a speedy recovery. its a very important point you make for all of us.

[TurboTortoise Graduate]

How frightening for you, sorry you have to go through this. But at least now it has been identified you can get it zapped (and it is very treatable I believe). It's so easy to put sun cream everywhere else but forget about one's ears (I have done this), so you are making a really important and useful point here. Thanks for sharing and all the best for your treatment.

[Girlyswot Graduate]

Sorry to hear that, best wishes for your recovery x

[mfamilias Graduate]

Sorry to hear that, HB. Snot fair. Glad to know that it's being taken care of quickly though. Thanks for reminding me that I should be more careful about the sun. Guilty as charged... Spock is one of the coolest people you could look like - he's on my list of heroes, along with Winston Churchill and Kermit's nephew. He said some pretty cool things, including this: "The more we share, the more we have".