A North Texas teacher urges everyone not to fall for skin cancer misconceptions, as she had.
Read Full Article HereShannon Callender grew up in Plano doing what most Texas kids do: summers at the pool, barefoot in the backyard, weekends on the lake.
As an adult, she bought a boat and spent every summer on the water.
She says she never wore sunscreen because she thought that since she tanned easily, she didn’t have to worry about cancer.
“Like most people, I sit there, watch the news, watch other people talk about skin cancer and think,’that’s not gonna happen to me,'” Calendar said. “Why would that happen to me? I get tan. You know, it’s nothing.”
At 52, that thinking nearly cost her her life.
About a year ago, the fifth-grade teacher noticed a mole on her arm had grown after a trip to Mexico.
Her primary care physician froze it off, but it returned and became itchy, changing color and growing.
She was referred to her dermatologist, Dr. Edgar Martinez, with U.S. Dermatology Partners.
“The minute I walked in, I was like,’yeah, this is a melanoma,'” Dr. Martinez said. “It was a big one.”
The diagnosis: stage 4 melanoma. It had already spread to her lymph nodes.
“The doctor needs to talk to you. And I said, well, go ahead and tell me what happened. And he said, no, the doctor wants to talk to you. I’m at school on my 30-minute break thinking, ‘when has a doctor ever called you personally?'” said Callender after receiving the call from her doctor.
Dr. Martinez says Callender’s case reflects a belief he sees regularly in his clinic, that people who tan easily are less at risk for skin cancer.
“Patients feel safe because they tan easily,” he said. “They think if they get that first tan in the summer, they can just ride it out. But in reality, it’s a false sense of safety. And unfortunately, patients like that end up coming to see us with skin cancers.”
He adds that skin cancer doesn’t discriminate by skin tone.
In his clinic, he diagnoses cancers across a wide range of patients, including in areas that rarely see the sun, like the back, feet, and toenails.
Texas ranks third in the nation for newly diagnosed melanoma cases, with an estimated 5,700 cases expected in 2025 and approximately 490 deaths, according to Texas Oncology.
Dr. Martinez says the key warning signs are changes that happen quickly, over weeks or months, not years.
Bleeding, pain or rapid growth in a mole or spot, especially on sun-exposed areas like the face, neck and hands, should prompt an immediate dermatology visit.
“Skin cancer, unfortunately, can happen anywhere,”said Dr. Martinez. “And it can happen to anyone.”
What Dr. Martinez recommends:
- Annual skin checks with a board-certified dermatologist
- At-home checks: use your phone to photograph moles and track changes over time
- See a dermatologist immediately if a spot is changing rapidly, bleeding, or is painful
- Sunscreen everywhere: don’t forget the neck, chest, hands, and back of the hands
- Consider mineral sunscreen if you have sensitive skin or a high-risk history. It reflects UV rays rather than absorbing them
- Don’t assume you’re immune: on average, a person’s melanoma risk doubles after more than five sunburns, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation
Callender was referred to Texas Oncology and underwent surgery within two weeks.
Surgeons removed the melanoma and two and a half lymph nodes.
Nineteen days after the procedure, she sat down to share her story, her arm still healing, a seven-inch scar visible below her sleeve.
