It has been a nightmare, plain and simple, and I will live with worrying for the rest of my life.
The plastic surgeon who has performed all of my surgeries tells me the damage was from 15-20 years ago because I was a sun worshiper all of my life and would also use tanning beds.
All of my melanomas have been caught in the earliest stages. To this day, I wear lotions that darken my skin. Sometimes they streak, but I will not die from wearing lotion.
— Kendra Pagliaroli, 44, Riverside
One doesn’t have to be a sun lover to get cancer. I was raised on a farm, and outside a lot helping with farm chores. In the last seven years, I have had five skin cancer surgeries. I have had all three of the types of skin cancer, melanoma, squamous cell and basal cell. No one in the history of my family had any form of cancer. I have also had two breast cancer surgeries.
Yeah, I am a survivor!
— Pat Johnson, 66, Wilmington