This article originally appeared in the May 2016 issue of SELF.
The problem started, as so many problems do, very small: a tiny patch of rough, sandpapery skin peeking through my hairline. When it didn’t disappear after two months, I visited a dermatologist—and another one, for safety. Both said it was scalp irritation. Nothing to worry about.
Still, the spot was slowly getting larger, so I showed it to Ellen Marmur, M.D., a New York City–based dermatologist. One week after performing a biopsy, she called with bad news: The spot was basal cell carcinoma (BCC), the most common form of skin cancer in the United States, with an estimated 2.8 million diagnoses each year.
I was speechless. As a beauty editor, I know just how dangerous UV rays can be. Even after having the biopsy, I’d assumed the results would rule out cancer—yet there it was, growing on my head. As reality sank in, I felt a little ashamed, as though I’d failed at something. But more than that, I was confused. How did I, the woman who practically bathes in SPF 30, develop skin cancer?
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