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" \n By Laura Carbonell You know how when you are young you think that the bad stuff only happens to other people? You believe you&amp;#039;re immune and immortal, and are sure the advice parents give is just to &amp;quot;pop our bubble&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;rain on our parade&amp;quot;? Well, that was me. I didn&amp;#039;t even think I&amp;#039;d turn thirty one day, let alone contract one of those awful diseases my parents warned me about! Yet, here I am, now well over thirty and having had one of those diseases: malignant Melanoma. I learned my lesson too late so, for Skin Cancer Awareness Month, I&amp;#039;m sharing my story. Fourteen years ago I started visiting a tanning salon in order to sport a healthy looking tan for a wedding I was attending. After the event, and looking like I&amp;#039;d been to the Bahamas, I was addicted to the glow. So despite all the warnings I read in articles and heard from doctors, I kept on tanning. There was mirror placed right in front of the tanning bed, and I remember that one time, on my way out, I caught a glimpse of a very small, yet uniquely dark spot on the back of my thigh. While I have quite a few moles, this one somehow seemed out of place. I remember thinking: This serves me right, it&amp;#039;s probably skin cancer. However, as soon as I got home, I forgot about it. I erased it from my mind for two years until I visited one of my siblings and the subject of my tanning habit came up. I showed her the dark spot and she told me to go get it checked immediately. Her fear over the spot was enough to scare me into calling a doctor. Click here to read the rest of Laura&amp;#039;s story.  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.cosmopolitan.com/health-fitness/a4384/close-encounter-with-skin-cancer/>