How skin cancer changed my life

The sun worshipper
Hedy Gold, diagnosed with melanoma at age 31

As an adolescent, the Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, native basked in the sun every chance she got. “It was like a drug,” says the self accessories director, 39. “I loved the feeling of warmth on my skin, and I was never dark enough, so I always skipped SPF.” During high school, in pursuit of an everlasting glow, Gold walked into a tanning salon and sprang for an unlimited-access membership. (The shocking truth? Every day, approximately 1 million people visit tanning beds, according to the American Academy of Dermatology in Schaumberg, Illinois. That might explain why there are more indoor tanning salons than there are Starbucks or McDonald’s in many U.S. cities, as a study from San Diego State University reports.) Even in the dead of winter, Gold would hit the blue bed several times a month. After graduation, she headed to Arizona State University at Tempe, where she lounged with friends at campus pools in between studying to get straight As. “Lying outside made me feel good, and I thought it made me look good, too,” Gold says. (Tanning may be addictive in the same way alcohol and narcotics are, a study in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology finds.)

In 2001, Gold moved to New York City to pursue a career in the fashion industry. “I missed being in the sun so much,” says the naturally fair-skinned, green-eyed blonde (traits that further increase her risk). So she reunited with her beloved tanning beds as often as she could — sneaking in appointments a few times a month — a hobby that cost her hundreds of dollars a year. “I didn’t realize I was putting my life in danger,” she says. “Then I got a major wake-up call.”

A few weeks before starting a new job as an accessories editor at a magazine, Gold flew home to spend time with her family. Her father, a general-practice doctor in Michigan, noticed that a mole on the left side of her face seemed bigger, darker and a different shape than he had recalled; he suggested she get it checked out by a dermatologist — asap. “Honestly, I hadn’t even noticed the mole had changed until then,” Gold admits.

She scheduled an appointment with one of the dermatologists at Juva Skin and Laser Center in NYC the week she returned. Although the mole didn’t look abnormal — it wasn’t unevenly shaped, noticeably large or multicolored — she explained that its size and color had recently morphed. Because of Gold’s detailed description, her doctor elected to shave off a small piece of the growth (a noninvasive method often used to remove a few surface skin cells) so it could be biopsied.

Sonja Pacho / SELF Hedy Gold, 39, couldn't get enough of tanning salons and sun bathing — until a growth on her cheek was found to be malignant melanoma in situ.

A few days later, Gold got a phone call from her doctor: The small tissue sample had come back from the lab as abnormal. Within hours of hanging up, she went back to the derm’s office and learned that the growth was malignant melanoma in situ (a stage of melanoma that is confined to the skin’s upper layer but still has the potential to penetrate deeper into the dermis). “I was in complete shock,” Gold says. “I thought, How could I have skin cancer?”

“Her diagnosis was actually good news,” says Michael Bruck, M.D., director of Juva Skin and Laser Center, who removed Gold’s cancer. “It meant that if it was taken out, we’d have a cure. So that’s exactly what I did.” A week after the surgery, which required the excision of about a half inch of tissue and 3 inches of stitches, Gold went to Manhattan’s Bryant Park to attend Fashion Week, where she reviewed several designers’ shows along with her beautifully attired peers. “Everyone was concerned when they saw the large white bandage taped across my cheek,” Gold recalls. “I told my story to anyone who would listen to help raise awareness.” A test of tissue surrounding the growth came back as benign, which confirmed that the cancer had been completely removed.

Now the former tanning junkie, who is expecting her first child this month, wears SPF 30 sunscreen on her face every day (SPF 60 all over if she’s at the beach) and hasn’t set foot in a tanning salon in eight years. (Dr. Bruck, whom she revisited to discuss details for this story, says that Gold’s consistent exposure to UVA light beds on and off for 15 years, coupled with her genetics, puts her at greater risk of developing skin cancer.) “I’m scared to death it will come back,” says Gold, who since her melanoma diagnosis has had six questionable moles biopsied from her calves, thighs and stomach. The most recent, located on the back of her left thigh, was found by Kathryn Frew, M.D., a colleague of Dr. Bruck’s. Upon review, it was labeled as severe dysplastic nevus (an irregular mole that could become melanoma if it isn’t removed) and had to be taken out. “Anything that looks even remotely suspicious I have checked,” Gold says. “It’s truly an ongoing battle.”

Healthy skin how-to
The risk of developing melanoma is 75 percent greater for people who used tanning beds as teens, notes the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France. “The machines are particularly dangerous because they emit UVA rays, which penetrate deeply and are less likely than UVB to cause a burn. You get damage without realizing it,” Dr. Mark says. A ray of hope: The FDA has given a report to Congress proposing that clearer warning labels be placed on all tanning beds, stating that consistent use of the device may lead to skin cancer.

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