Christie Brinkley and I have something in common
As of yesterday, I now have a new commonality with supermodel Christie Brinkley. Yeah, we’re both in our seventies; but that event occurred almost two months ago. No, I’m not an uptown boy; although I’ve been known to hang out in that area of Chicago—don’t tell my mom.
We now both have had skin cancer—the basil cell carcinoma variety.
How we both came about this is very similar. Christie accompanied her daughter to her dermatologist for a full body check—something everyone should do at least yearly. She told the doctor as long as I’m here, can you look at this ‘little tiny dot?’
"He took a look and knew immediately it needed a biopsy! He did it then and there!"
It was almost the exact thing I said to my dermatologist. I said to her, “I don’t think this is anything but take a look.”
Yep—that little dot on my nose led to an immediate biopsy. A week later, I had Mohs surgery; just like Christie. Want to see what that looks like? You probably don’t but I’m going to show you just to scare you a bit!
Pretty scary, right? But, here’s the thing—it could be much worse. If you keep your eyes open for little dots, you can catch them before they do too much damage. And if you don’t believe me, here is what Christie had to say on her Instagram page:
"The good news for me is we caught the basal cell Carcinoma early. And I had great Doctors that removed the cancer and stitched me up to perfection like an haute couture Dior."
Now I don’t know anything about ‘haute couture Dior’, but I do know about how to stay safe in the sun and how to prevent skin damage. But, I’ll let Christie tell you what she’s learned about this:
“The good news for you is that all of this can be avoided by being diligent with your sun protection! I got serious a bit late so now for this ole mermaid/gardener, I’ll be slathering on my SPF 30, reapplying as needed, wearing long sleeves and a wide-brim hat. And doing regular total body checkups..that is a MUST”
I couldn’t say it any better myself!
Hey Christie, welcome to the club. That little surgery you had, those are your dues. Hopefully, we won’t have any more meetings.