teddi mellencamp diagnosed with ‘wake-up call’ stage 2 melanoma

as a teen in the 1990s, teddi mellencamp arroyave never wore sunscreen and put baby oil and iodine on her skin to get a tan and didn’t get any of her moles checked until age 40, she shared on instagram , after finding out that she has stage 2 melanoma.

the real housewives of beverly hills star, and daughter of musician john mellencamp, is using social media to raise awareness of the importance of protecting your skin, getting moles checked and following doctors’ recommendations.

because melanoma begins in the melanocytes, the cells that make the pigment melanin, it can also start in other parts of the body that have melanocytes. you can get it in your eyes, fingernails, toenails and gi tract. it can also spread or metastasize to other parts of your body, which is why removal right away is so critical, according to the cancer support community .

early detection of skin cancer saves lives

self-examining your skin on a monthly basis is an important habit to have to catch suspicious moles, according to the canadian skin cancer foundation .

experts have developed an “abcde” guide of what to watch for:

asymmetry. one side of the mole doesn’t match the other side.

border . the edges of the mole are ragged or blurred.

colour . the colour of the mole is not the same, with different shades of brown or black — red, white and blue can also appear.

diameter . the mole is larger than six millimetres (1/4 inch) — about the size of a pencil eraser, or you notice growth.

evolution . a change in the size, shape, or colour, or symptoms, like itching tenderness, or bleeding. 

increased diagnosis of melanoma — but no longer a ‘death sentence’

a recent population-based study in frontiers in medicine found that the incidence of melanoma is rising, with canadians living in southern and coastal parts of the country have a greater risk of developing the cancer.

study author dr. ivan litvinov, assistant professor in the department of medicine at mcgill university, told ctv news that melanoma is more common than all other cancers combined. out of 80,000 skin cancer diagnoses per year in canada, 8,000 are melanomas.