Testimonials - Conversion From A Sun Worshipper

Above: before.    Right: after.

Does your heart skip a beat when you watch the ads of shimmering swimming pools or the couple dashing into the surf in Jamaica? Would you rather trade places with the lifeguards on Baywatch? I did, and moved from the east coast to California, spending every minute I could on the beach.

My revelation about the true dangers of the sun came suddenly. One day in the newspaper, a series of photos featuring three vital, suntanned athletes caught my eye.

"Gee, I'd love to look like them," I thought.

The article was about the three, former Santa Monica lifeguards who died of skin cancer. After that, little reminders cropped up regularly: my uncle was treated for an easily cured skin cancer called "squamous cell carcinoma." This condition usually begins with rough, mole-size patches that have a translucent, scaly surface over a red or brownish base. The medical term for these sun-induced scaly growths is "actinic keratosis." My father subsequently had a similar patch removed from his eyelid which remained painful and uncomfortable.

One day I looked in the mirror and the mirror looked cracked. It wasn't the mirror, but the snaggly line right down my cheek. When my witty stepmother began referring to her neighbor as "worm farm," I began to hold my hand over my cheek when I was in her company.

My hand came over my face more and more, but it wasn't as easy to cover the brown sunspots on the other side of my face or my "age spots" on my hands because they are the direct result of years of sun exposure. Then I found Dr. Kamin and the solution to my problems.

It's scary to think of what we once thought was fun. On the beach we baked in baby oil; on Colorado ski trips we put bacon grease on our faces to absorb even more sun. What a beautiful tan we had on the first day. Today I shudder when to think about it and cringe when I spot laughing teens with beet-red faces riding around in convertibles during the summer.

In this case, laser surgery has changed the old adage of "youth is wasted on the young." It has made me look and feel young -- I have a chance to do it over again!

Read Sara's Story