Vanity saved Bobbie Gray’s life.
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Bobbie went to the doctor four years ago to have two unsightly moles removed, one on her stomach and one on the back of her leg.
"I thought they were ugly," she said. "Otherwise, they didn’t really bother me."
Bobbie was 23 years old at the time. She had been married for two years and she and her husband Jesse had one son.
The doctor removed the mole on her stomach first and didn’t seem too concerned at the time. But then the test results came back and Bobbie was told she had malignant melanoma, a potentially deadly disease.
"I didn’t have a thought in my mind that I would have skin cancer," said Bobbie. "Not when I was in my early 20s and had been healthy my whole, entire life."
Both she and her family were in a state of shock and disbelief. Their worry only intensified when six months later, the mole on Bobbie’s leg was biopsied and the results showed it was cancerous as well.
Bobbie’s doctors couldn’t say for sure what caused her skin cancer. She did "tons of research" herself. She found out that skin cancers form because of an interplay between genes and environment. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun appears to be the leading cause.
Bobbie said she didn’t spend a lot of time at the beach. "I went to the pool some," she said. "But I wasn’t a big sun goddess."
Some research suggests that artificial UV radiation from sun beds or sun lamps is about as dangerous as staying out too long in the sun.
At the time of her diagnosis, Bobbie was working in a tanning salon, which she calls "ironical." Though she worked in a salon, Bobbie was not herself a regular user of the tanning beds.
"That year we were going to Florida to vacation, so I used a tanning bed a few times before we went, but not year round like some of the customers did," she said.
Bobbie admits she wasn’t good about using sun block. Still, she finds it hard to believe she was exposed to enough harmful UV rays to cause cancer.
Skin cancer can also be hereditary. Bobbie only knows of one other member of her family, a grandmother in her sixties, who has had skin cancer. It was not the same kind of skin cancer as Bobbie’s.
People with fair complexions are more susceptible to skin cancer. Bobbie has light skin and hair and blue eyes. She burns easily. But skin cancer is usually very slow to develop. The sunburn a person receives this summer may take 20 years or more to become skin cancer.
No matter what she learned about the causes of skin cancer, it was still hard for Bobbie to accept the disease at such a young age.
The good news is that Bobbie is living proof that melanoma can strike anyone at any age. In fact, malignant melanoma is now the most common cancer in young adults between the ages of 15 and 34. Bobbie is now 27. In the past four years, there has been no recurrence of the cancer. She constantly screens for changes in her skin and has been in consultation with doctors at Ellis Fischel Cancer Center in Columbia. She has had three other moles removed and they were not malignant.
Whatever the cause of the melanoma, it has been a life-changing experience for Bobbie and her family.
"My husband is always reminding me to put sun block on," Bobbie said.
Still, she has not let it overwhelm her life.
"I don’t hide from the sun. We still do things outside," she said. "We go to the zoo and I’ve been canoeing with my husband. I wear a hat. I apply sun block and re-apply through the day. I wear sun block daily, all year round."
As for tanning beds, Bobbie said she would never get in one again and doesn’t recommend them. "Am I a fan? No. Would I ever have one? No. Will I let my children tan? No."
After four years of being free of melanoma, Bobbie isn’t free of concern.
"There’s a looming thought in the back of my mind that I’ll get it again," she said.
And she worries about her boys, Jagger, now 5, and Malakai, 15 months. Statistics say children are more likely to get melanoma if one of the parents have it.
"Jagger asks to put his sun block on," said Bobbie. "It’s like putting on a seat belt. It’s a good habit to get into."
Bobbie has seen something good come out of her cancer diagnosis — the chance to help others.
"Sometimes I think I was supposed to have it," she said. "Because of the line of business I’m in."
Bobbie recently opened Bobbie’s Hair and Nail Salon in Gallatin. Her shop gives her the chance to talk to people, especially young people.
"Not in a mean way, but I tell them to definitely be careful," she said.
She tells them melanoma is ageless and to see a doctor if they notice changes in their skin. She advises them to be safe in the sun and take precautions and that a golden tan isn’t worth the risk of cancer. Her message also reaches to parents to protect their children. Most people receive 80% of their lifetime exposure to the sun by 18 years of age.
"I was just being vain about it," she said. "But had I left it, it would have killed me."
Bobbie realizes now that being young doesn’t make her invincible. And she isn’t as vain about her looks as she used to be. "I’ve learned to like being pale," she said. "I’m gonna look young when I’m 70."