During a follow-up visit, Dr. McDaniel spotted another, smaller suspicious area on Mr. Templet’s forearm that she also tested. That one turned out to be basal cell carcinoma, another type of skin cancer.
She safely removed both, as well as skin cancer detected on Mrs. Templet.
With February being National Cancer Prevention Awareness Month, the Templets’ story is a particularly timely cautionary tale, illustrating how skin cancer screenings can save lives.
When it comes to skin cancer, Dr. McDaniel said, patients should remember to look for areas on their skin that fit the “A-B-C-D-E” rule, which represent the five chief warning signs of melanoma.
“A” stands for asymmetrical. If a spot is asymmetrical, consider it suspicious.
Same goes for spots with irregular borders – that’s “B” – that might be jagged or scalloped.
“C” is for color, and refers to spots that are multicolored or changing colors.
“D” is for diameter. Beware spots that are bigger than a pencil eraser.
And “E” is for evolving. “Really, you need to watch for anything that’s not healing up after a few weeks or is changing,” Dr. McDaniel said. “If I had to pick one of the five, that’s the most important.”
If you detect a suspicious spot that fits any of the above rules, Dr. McDaniel recommends making an appointment to see a board-certified dermatologist. (Find a list of board-certified dermatologists in your area at the American Academy of Dermatology website, www.aad.org.)
Even if you don’t have what you think is a suspicious spot, Mr. Templet encourages people to get screened anyway – perhaps at this March’s Tour De Lis, where Dr. McDaniel will again be teaming with St. Tammany Health System to provide on-site screenings.
After all, he thought his weird freckle was of little concern. It turned out to be a big deal.
“You should always get a screening,” he said. “For me it was painless and free – a free screening they were offering. The spot on my chest which was melanoma? You can die from that.”