FAQ 1: Spray sunscreen

What spray sunscreen do you recommend for kids/sensitive skin?

I get asked this a lot. I understand the draw of spray sunscreens. They are SO quick and easy! But, I can’t recommend any spray sunscreens. To be clear, I am meaning spray sunscreens in an aerosol or compressed air form, not the sunscreen with a pump spray.

Almost all spray sunscreens are chemical based. I am very concerned about the long term effects of chemicals that may be inhaled while spray sunscreens are applied, especially for children who may not be able to hold their breath as reliably as we would like to believe. My 8 year old son told me last week that he’d been holding his breath for 15 minutes (he wrote me a note to tell me.) I told him to plug his nose and he lasted about 4 seconds. He genuinely thought he was holding his breath before. It made me reconsider just asking him to hold his breath when spraying him with sunscreen!

I wouldn’t recommend sprays for sensitive skin. Almost all contain denatured alcohol which is horrible for skin! Drying and irritating.

Sprays are also infamous for not providing compete coverage. The chemical forms that go on clear are extremely difficult to check coverage.

So, I still haven’t talked you out of using a spray sunscreen? That’s alright! I won’t judge you if I see you spraying your kids down at the pool or the park! I know sprays are easy. ANY sunscreen is better than NO sunscreen! May I offer a few tips about applying that spray?

1. READ and FOLLOW the directions on the bottle. Chemical sunscreens need to sit on the skin for 20-30 minutes before the sunscreen begins working!

2. Spray until you can see the sunscreen on the skin. This is the only way to make sure it hasn’t all blown away in the wind!

3. RUB it in. ALL sunscreens need to be rubbed in!

I did try an all natural spray sunscreen by this month. The active ingredients (as in all mineral sunscreens) are zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. If you try it make sure you shake it and it should spray white. The first three times I sprayed this on my screen, it came out clear. I don’t believe I got any protection during any of these applications. Yikes! After shaking it comes out super thick and is tough to rub in. I didn’t like it much, but if you really want to try a spray, I’d recommend Goddess Garden Continuous Spray SPF 30.

Not an ad. I purchased this product on my own dime. The link above is an Amazon affiliate link. If you buy with the link, I get a very small percentage of what you pay to help offset my review costs. I only review sunscreens which I would use on my family and myself based on basic requirements such as broad spectrum and a minimum SPF of 30.

Melanoma Monday

I wear black for me!

May is Skin Cancer Awareness month. The first Monday in May is set aside as Melanoma Monday. Melanoma is the most common cancer in 25-29 year olds. I was diagnosed when I was 29. Melanoma is deadly and the rates of Melanoma diagnosis are rising at an alarming rate. One phrase that is common in the Melanoma world is “Melanoma is not JUST skin cancer.” Melanoma is deadly because it grows within the body and spreads like wildfire. I have battled Melanoma on my skin, in my lymph nodes, in my lungs, and in my brain.

Tomorrow I will be wearing black along with my sweet family and many friends to raise awareness of this deadly cancer. I will be wearing black for me, but also for the 492 warriors and support people in my online support group. I am also wearing black in memory of Amy, Al, Jackie, Steve, Jen and Jillian. I would be honored if you would join me in shouting Mela-NO-mas! tomorrow by wearing black!

The American Academy of Dermatology decided to make wearing orange their rally cry for Melanoma Monday this year through their Spot Orange campaign. I am not sure of their reasoning behind the change from black, because the Melanoma ribbon is black, but I would be honored equally by anyone who wears orange or black tomorrow for the purpose of raising Melanoma awareness.

I would LOVE for you to join me in wearing black tomorrow! Danny created an image for me using the Jillian Hayes Foundation’s frame to share why you are wearing black. If you would like, I would be so honored if you would share this image with others!

Anti PD-1: A New Hope

Daniel and me at the Melanoma Walk in October 2012!

The right sidebar of my blog contains a list of my history with Melanoma. It is quite an extensive list. I am blessed to have been diagnosed at the “best time” in history to have Melanoma. Progress that has eluded researchers for many years is finally being made in treating this horrible cancer. Did you know that doctors have been able to cure Melanoma in rats for a number of years? It is frustrating that they haven’t been able to do the same in humans.

A little over two weeks ago I began a new drug that is in clinical trial and showing great promise for treating Melanoma. There is a coating on some cancer cells called Programmed Death 1(PD-1). When the immune system attempts to attack the cancer, the PD-1 hits the self destruct button on the immune cells. The Anti PD-1 drug turns off this mechanism and allows the immune system to fight the cancer. Besides having a good success rate in patients, another wonderful aspect of this drug is that is has very few side effects! I have had a bit of fatigue, a tiny bit of joint pain in my left wrist, and I noticed some dry patches developing on the insides of my elbows and on my back. I’ll take it! And the new hope this drug offers! I receive my next dose on Thursday. Bring it on!

Sunscreen Tip

Applying sunscreen can be a pain when it is a runnier formula and has a screw or flip top. Fingers get slippery, the bottle gets greasy, in the worst case it gets dropped and your floor gets a slick new UV coating! Yuck!!! About a year ago, I realized I could replace the flip top that came on my sunscreen with a pump top that I borrowed from an old bottle of lotion. For another bottle, I bought a pump bottle of hand sanitizer from the dollar store just for the pump top. A pump makes dispensing and portioning sunscreen SO much easier for adults and kids! Don’t forget that sunscreen application is an important life skill that children need to be taught.

Review- Blue Lizard Sunscreen

For my first sunscreen review, I thought I’d begin with my very favorite sunscreen. It’s the first sunscreen my dermatologist (who specializes in Melanoma) recommended to me. Actually, she recommended it for my children when they were getting freckles and a slight tan despite my faithful morning application of sunscreen before I sent them to school. She said I needed something more “sticky” to last throughout the school day. It’s also what she uses on her own kids before sending them out to play in the Arizona sun! Thankfully, Blue Lizard sunscreens aren’t sticky as in tacky feeling. They rub in nicely. They are longer lasting on skin (in my opinion) than other sunscreens because they meet Australian sunscreen standards which are much more stringent than our own sunscreen standards here in the USA. From Blue Lizard’s “About Blue Lizard” page.

“In the United States, the highest standards for water resistance are 80 minutes in still water. Our Very Water Resistant Regular and Sport formulas meet the most stringent Australian Standards which are 240 minutes in whirlpool water, making them over three times as water resistant!”

A quick note, that this only applies to the Regular and Sport formulas of Blue Lizard. I didn’t read this carefully and spread half truths when I began preaching the Blue Lizard gospel!

Review: BLUE LIZARD SUNSCREEN REGULAR FORMULA

SPF: 30+ (Australian standards do not allow any sunscreen to claim any higher than this and if applied correctly, you should not need anything more than this!)

Chemical or Mineral: Blue Lizard Regular Formula is a combination of mineral and chemical ingredients. The active ingredients are: Octinoxate 7.5%, Octocrylene 2%, Oxybenzone 3%, Zinc Oxide 6%

Application and appearance: Blue Lizard is pretty runny out of the bottle. It spreads easily without a lot of effort. The sunscreen does NOT leave a white tint and is matte when rubbed in. No shiny residue!

Where to find: Blue Lizard can be tough to find. In Tucson Bashas’ carries it and even then, only during the summer. Any local pharmacy should be able to order it for you. It is also available through the Blue Lizard website, although the cost of shipping can be high. I usually order mine through Amazon. Free two day shipping with my prime membership works for me!

Introductions

I’m Martha. I’m a wife, a mom, a former teacher, a God chaser, a fact lover and researcher. I have stage 4 Melanoma, it’s the “bad” skin cancer. When I was diagnosed it was in my lymph nodes. It’s now tried to move into my lungs and brain and I have a few large tumors under my skin that I can feel. In mela-land we call those “sub-qs.” I’m am in a clinical trial and planning to kick ass!

I am passionate about sun safety for adults and kids. I hope to use this blog to post updates about my cancer journey as well as tips for keeping you and your family sun safe! I have a 6 and 8 year old, so I am experienced at wrestling sunscreen on squirmy kids. I am also hoping to post many sunscreen reviews. What do you want to know about sunscreen? Chemical vs. mineral? Application tips? How to protect that pesky part in your hair? Stay tuned!

Now we are six!

Now We Are Six – A.A. Milne

When I was one I had just begun

When I was two I was nearly new

When I was three I was hardly me

When I was four I was not much more

When I was five I was just alive

But now I am six, I’m as clever as clever;

So I think I’ll be six now for ever and ever.

Abigail Emma was born on June 6, 2006. She is our 6-6-06 baby and this June she turned 6! We told her this was more than just a mere golden birthday, it is a platinum birthday with a special birth date like hers! Here are some of my favorite baby photos of Miss Abby. She was such a sweet newborn. I had a number of complications during and after my pregnancy and she was SO good while we needed her to be good. (She is still such a good girl, but a much more feisty version of good!)

This photo reminds me of this Eloise Wilkin illustration from my favorite book as a little girl, Baby Dear.

My little bug after a bath! She was chunky, but compared to her big brother at the same age, she seemed so tiny!

Joey and Abby are the best of friends and still play together ALL THE TIME! I am so thankful they have one another and pray they will stay lifelong friends.

Abilicious, we love you so much and have enjoyed the past six years with you more than we ever could have dreamed. You made our family complete. Thank you for making me play everyday! I love you!

And an alarm clock made all the difference…

Our school district made a huge change in schedule on us this year. Last year Joey’s school day was from 9-3:30. The afternoons were so short and packed with homework, dinner, and early bedtimes for my sweet kindergartner. This year, school is from 7:45-2! I love our long afternoons. We have time for homework AND playtime! The mornings, however, are tricky to get everyone up and out the door for the school bus at 7:12! Joey bounces out of bed wide awake each morning when his Anakin Lego mini figure alarm clock sounds at 6.

My Abby-girl, however, does not bounce as easily out of bed in the morning. In fact, dragging her out of bed each morning has become more and more difficult. Yesterday, poor Danny fought with her and didn’t have her dressed until 7. So I decided to give her my old cheap-ie alarm clock to use in an attempt to help her be responsible for getting herself out of bed in the mornings. She wasn’t very excited about the “gift” at first, but after we pretended to be asleep and hit the snooze button when it went off, she decided it was big stuff! She proudly showed off her new alarm clock to Grammie and Daddy before bed.

So, did it work??? Like a charm! She bounced right out of bed and brought me her alarm to turn off (she can only manage the snooze button) and was dressed with teeth brushed by 6:15!!! Here’s hoping the charm of the alarm clock lasts more than one morning! I think Santa may be bringing her a Littlest Pet Shop alarm clock for Christmas! Instead of an alarm ringing, it meows and barks. Perfect for my sweet girl!

Post Surgery Update

Dear friends,

Thank you SO much for the encouragement and prayers. My surgery today went pretty well. There was a rough patch when there was an area they were working in which wasn’t numb. It was quickly corrected, but brought out my barely held in tears. Thankfully, it was the greatest team working on me and they kept me talking and distracted.

My team of doctors (oncology dermatologist, oncologist surgeon, and the best melanoma oncologist in AZ) talked about my case and they agree that my next step is localized radiation. So I will be meeting with a new member of my team in the next week or two, a radiation oncologist with hopes of beginning radiation on my back as soon as my incisions heal.

For the next few days, I will practice taking it easy and following some lifting restrictions. I’m not the best at this, so wish me luck!

My history with Melanoma

2009

September 15 Dermatologist removes “unconcerning mole” from my back

September 17 Diagnosed with Malignant Melanoma

October 2 Wide excision of mole area and sentinel lymph node removal in left and right groin

October 21 Removal of all lymph nodes from left groin

December 16 Port install and first high dose interferon treatment

2010

January 12 Finish high dose interferon treatment

January 19 Begin lower dose self injections

June 18 Port removal (horrible experience!)

June 30, 2010 Danny begins new job

August 9, 2010 Joey begins kindergarten

December 24, 2010 Last dose of Interferon

December 30, 2010 CT/MRI

January 7, 2011 Appointment with Dr. Cranmar, told a tumor was found on CT

January 21, 2011 Surgery to remove tumor

February 3 Clean CT scans

March 14, 2011 Begin DERMA trial

June 3, 2011 Clear CT scan

June 16, 2011 See Warneke about concerns of lumps on surgery scar

July 6 Surgery to remove tumors

August 8 Joey begins first grade, Abby begins kindergarten

August 26, 2009 Clear Scan

September 12, 2011 Derm appointment finds recurrence of lumps under scar

September 26, 2011 Surgery to remove tumors