We are all set for a heatwave this weekend, with temperatures forecast to hit 30 degrees today. There are dire warnings on news bulletins about the possibility of it affecting the over 65s.
For the first time in my life I have found myself in the over 65 category, so hey, I suppose I’m officially old. I’m not a fan of the heat, as I run hotter than most all the time anyway due to being slightly over-medicated on Thyroxine. Nonetheless, Sam and I are due to join the family a bit later on for an all-day open-air music festival taking place in Bury St. Edmunds. I have packed a rucksack with sun cream, hats, drinks, and a thin scarf to protect the back of my neck. Sam will carry fold-up chairs and umbrellas, so I think we’ll be okay.
I stopped sunbathing quite early on – perhaps in my twenties. However, I expect I’ll see people lying flat out on the grass soaking up those rays. Having worked in Dermatology I now know that all those stupid teenage years I spent trying to get a good tan may come back to bite me on the bum in the form of skin cancer now I’m in my sixties. It all depends on the genes I suppose. Sam’s sister has already had a melanoma treated and survived, and only the other day I spotted a dodgy-looking mole on Sam’s back that the GP will look at on Thursday, probably formed in the past when he worked on building sites in his youth and took his shirt off in the summertime.
When you’re young you don’t think about skin cancer affecting you. I had one slow-growing and relatively innocent basal cell carcinoma (BCC) taken off my face about 10 years ago, and am always vigilant regarding any new lesions appearing. So far so good, but I know I’ll yearn to shout “Stop it!” at all those people I’ll see frying in the heat in the Abbey Gardens this afternoon. That’s the advantage of having worked in Dermatology… these people may not know it, but I know they might pay for it umpteen years down the line. Sometimes ignorance is bliss though …
Anyway, bye for now, I’m off to hear some music!
Stevie Turner 