Don't forget the sunscreen!

It started as a little red spot on the bridge of my nose. I took no notice until it made its presence felt by bleeding a tiny bit every time it was touched or every time I washed my face. The local doctor suggested it should be removed and performed a small procedure which was painful, but only
needed a couple of stitches and a  bandaid to cover it. A week or so later, when I went to have the stitches removed, he (the doc) said that it had been a basal cell carcinoma, which was not one of the most serious skin cancers, but one that needed to be removed as it could ‘grow’ and be a little ‘nasty’. The bad news was that the pathology had revealed that he had not quite removed all
the cancer cells, with a small edge remaining that we would ‘have to watch’ and if it obviously returned, there would need to be another cutting (ouch!)  procedure.
 Well, it did return – quite obviously – and I, being reluctant for any more slicing off of a part of my nose opted for the freezing method of attempting to kill it off. This procedure was done three times over a matter of years…all to no avail. 
By the time I had arrived to live here in the tropics, in what is termed ‘the skin cancer capital or Australia’, the spot on my nose had spread to be several spots, one of which bled quite
regularly. So, off I went to a local doctor, who called in his colleague, who then sent me off to the nearest skin cancer clinic.
The result is a slash from my cheek up, in an inverted ‘V’shape, to the bridge of my nose and back again. About 24 stitches adorn this most unattractive wound. Tomorrow, 8 days after the slashing procedure, I will have every second stitch removed, so I’m on the way to being back to normal,
albeit with a scar on my nose & face. The good news is that the latest pathology report states that the cancer has been  totally removed. 
The message I need to give, from someone (me) who has been a sun-worshipper all her life is ‘PLEASE DON’T FORGET TO USE SUNSCREEN’.
 One week soon, I will have a total body check just to make sure that none of those spots on my back are nurturing something sinister.
And I’m going to buy a wide brimmed hat!