Skin Trauma: Photosensitivity / Phototoxicity There are myriad ways that UV exposure from sunlight can negatively impact your skin and health. Several have already been mentioned in previous blog posts, and today I want to talk about one we haven’t discussed yet: photosensitivity and skin trauma. Photosensitivity is an allergic reaction to sunlight which, as its name … Read more
Hero: Samantha Channels of Got Sunblock? I first met my hero Samantha Channels in 2010 through social media. This extraordinarily beautiful woman, a lifelong Hawaiian, was much younger than me. And at the time we first became friends, she was taking care of her four children while having fought her way through years’ worth of struggles … Read more
As the weekend ends, like always, I find myself counting my blessings. Then it’s Monday, the start of a week that’ll be made or broken by nothing more than my own attitude. This was Compassion Therapy. Over the past few days, I got to spend time with a cancer patient who pulled in the reigns … Read more
Melanoma survivors story I am Pale BUT Proud A survivors story of Melanoma: My Melanoma diagnosis has had a tremendously profound impact on my life, and I was thrilled to use my experience for the benefit of others. But there was no way to champion my cause further without mixing in additional, once-private components. The more … Read more
Melanoma Changed My Life Forever As I re-entered the world of fashion and beauty I had a renewed sense-of-self. And more importantly, of others. It’s not that I was selfish or ambivalent before my ordeal with Cancer; I never was. But I returned to my vocation humbled in many ways; my eyes had been opened … Read more
Melanoma surreal experiences: Out of Body – Out of Mind My surreal experiences with Melanoma are best defined as out of body experiences. I don’t think anybody who hasn’t been one, can truly appreciate all that a Cancer patient goes through. It starts at the moment of diagnosis and continues on, one way or another, for … Read more
Personal Identity: Lost To The Beast – Malignant Melanoma Losing my personal identity to Malignant Melanoma did not end when I was told I was in remission. When I tell you that having Melanoma changed my life completely and forever, I mean it. Unfortunately, my Cancer diagnosis came with much more than the obvious surgeries. … Read more