Topic : 08/03 Teen Wake-Up Calls

I hope your daughter learned the dangers from this wake up call.  My son never got into tanning much until his senior year in high school --he went a few times before prom.. The danger came when he went to college--he started tanning because he was on the swim team and didn't want to be so white.  He came home at Christmas a year ago as brown as could be.  In March he noticed a spot on his leg---his girlfriend nagged him to show it to me so finally he did in August!  Yes it was melanoma----one season of tanning and he got it.  He now has a three inch scar in his thigh--he couldn't swim this year--in fact he had complications and couldn't do any heart pumping activities for the first semester so he gained  weight.  Because he is in aviation he now has to have a brain scan every year to renew his pilot's license.  I tell everyone I can not to tan--we are all at risk ---his older brother says he will never get in a tanning bed again--his younger brother and sister said they will never use one.  For us the new tan is either white or out of a bottle.

that you made this mature and thinking decision.  Good for you!  Thank you for telling me and for 

taking care of your health and .........life.  It is the only one you have. 

Blessings to you. 

Linda 

I couldnt' believe Dr. Phil offered up CHEMICALS as an answer to this girl's tanning issue! I am 34 years old as of April 29th, and I've been tanning since I was 16 years old when I got a job at a tanning and toning salon, as soon as I get my boyfriend to help me post a picture you will see for yourself my skin is not in trouble at all. I get told I Iook 22 years old. Now I will also tell you that I take long breaks from tanning but when I tan, I go everyday for weeks on end, with a day or two in between. Right now my tan is gone, giving my skin a break. My skin is in AWSOME condition, it's just a matter of taking EXTRA good care of your skin, and nuetrogena is NOT the answer. They use HARSH chemicals that ALSO cause cancer, thier stuff is made of animal ingredients and is TESTED on animals in CRUEL ways. BURDOCK ROOT is the answer, that and SEA KELP, sure continue to tan but be aware, and do the necessary repair along the way everyday. Witch Hazel, and Burts Bees Carrot Nutritive Lotion are excellent to baby your skin, combine that with the Burdock and Sea Kelp taken internally and you're on your way to a better path. The Burdock Root detoxifies the liver and heals skin conditions as bad as psoriasis and exzema, I love it and use it all the time. Dr.Phil mentioned that tanning changes your cell structure, I also read that tanning beds change your DNA, Ok so given that, I keep in mind, and use WHEATGRASS JUICE to guard against that as much as possible. What does wheatgrass juice DO you ask? It REPAIRS DNA DAMAGE. If you don't know what that means, just drink 2 or 3ounzes of it at your nearest juice bar and discover for yourself the ANTI-AGING effects it has on your body, you may not like the taste but it's all about the RESULTS! There is also UDO's Oil (Flax oil, coconut oil, seasame oil ect. blend) you can add to your diet to keep your skin nourished, eat lots of Avacodos (it's not fattening, it's the GOOD fat and will look good on you, it promotes BEAUTY, not obesity), drink lots of water, purify your diet, no pop, or refined sugar, practise as much organic vegetarianism as you possibly can. I find the SEA KELP REALLY tones the skin nice when used with Witch Hazel. Stay away from neutrogena, they are cruel & misleading and that indoor tanning cream causes cancer too! It's no better, the sun is NOT our enemy, WE are the SUN's enemy, what with all the nasty chemicals we emit into the air, it's no wonder there's no ozone layer. The sun is our anti depressant, there is vitamin D to be had from it, dont' fear the sun, fear the man made chemical, doesn't it make sense? Mother Nature has our best interest at heart not some evil corporation, they've just found clever but sneaky ways of getting RICH. Stearic Acid is an ingredient found in most lotions, shampoos, conditioners etc. that are sold in the common drug store or dept. store. All the alternatives I've mentioned are found in nature and the HEALTH FOOD STORE, do yourself a favour.With all due respect Nourishment is the  answer not chemicals.

It should.n be briana's responcibility to protect herself with birthcontrol. It should be the Men's responcibility to stay away from children

You should really put me in contact with your cousin because I have been everywhere she is at right now, and I know its a fight and I think shes a strong girl because she is open minded for help. Atleast that was what I gathered from the show. I was so touched by her segment in general especially when she showed her arm. I too went through self-harm, drinking, drugs and sex. And I too am not a stupid young girl. I was a smart girl trying to cover up horrible memories out of my past. keeping up appearances to practically everyone that my childhood really was so perfect but the thing is, there is no such thing as a perfect childhood due to our surroundings. Humans aren't meant to deal with this much stress by nature so no matter how great our parents were ( mine have always been amazing in pretty much everyway) they can't always protect us. Hearing Allie's story just reminded me of when I was her age just beginning the partying and such. I have always been a great girl outwardly but over the years, in highschool I began to drink and smoke a little bit of pot here and there.  That was just the beginning and was actually just normal curiousity. Then my junior year( summer going into) I took a turn for the worse. That summer I went on a trip to Spain with my Dad and got drugged and brutally raped twice in one night by someone I thought was a nice acquaintance (I was a virgin) . From then on my whole life changed and I would love to share all that and more with her and also how I pulled myself out of it again. Thankyou and try not to be too worried, Stephanie Lorenz

With all due respect to those who have suffered with regards to tanning, I have been tanning since I was 16 years old, on and off, you can still have a healthy glow with or without a tan. The tan is not the answer to looking attractive, however I DO believe that one can tan at minimal risk. If you DO decide to tan, it is a good idea to beef up your immune system.  I beleive that the standard american diet lacks protection from cancer as most affordable food is poisoned with pesitcides, herbacides, growth hormones (which I blame for 'growths' such as tumors and cysts.)  If all it takes is a few weeks of tanning to get a chronic disease than maybe it's time to take a good hard look at one's diet, how pure is it? Tanning isn't the culprit here, the fact that our food has been robbed of it's healing medicinal power IS. Meat causes more problems than tanning, it clogs the colon, rots in your colon and stays there, allowing toxins to go back in to the blood stream causing all sorts of havoc. It is the IMPURITIES in our food that are not getting the attention here, I am living PROOF of it. They say 'ILLNESS IS OUT BEST TEACHER' and I learned a LOT from bulimia, I learned how to bring my self back to life and if you want to go tanning, just make nutritional room for it, compensate constantly for the damage it does. Tanning lotions both for the tanning beds, outdoor and indoor both contain un natural ingredients, dont' forget about those. Look at EVERYTHING. Did you know that pesticides cause breast cancer? Well they say EVERYTHING causes cancer, so the cure for cancer is to eliminate at least 99% of the cause, all things that cause it. I chose to eliminate pesticedes from my diet and it's a shame that clean organic food COSTS more! It should be whats served in school cafeterias instead of fries and gravy and salsbury steak. There are SO many answers to cancer and it doesn't take a billion dollars or a genius to figure it out, just a couple trips to the health food store with a few questions, read a few lines in one thier books about nutrition and you've armed yourself with a wealth of vitally important life saving information. I am only angered at the fact that there is so much wide spread un nesecarry suffering in this world. How about the PUS in cows milk? That CAN'T be good you, the antibiotics, the growth hormones, the stearic acid from cows stomaches that's put into cheap lotions and conditioners, it's what's irritating to the skin. Chemicals are chemicals, legal or not, they are still chemicals made by man and yet they are NEVER suspected when an illness of any kind surfaces. There are superfoods like seaweeds and blue green algeas that can work miracles, there are medicinal mushrooms that also do things for us that antibiotics and heart meds WISH they could do. How much money does the cancer society get and they STILL haven't found a cure? If they did they wouldnt need to collect billions of dollars anymore eh? It only cost me $6.00 for a drink at starbucks and to head into the chapters bookstore self help section and read about nutrition and HERBAL healing, the stuff REALLY works. I've tried doctors stuff and holistic things, I found that holistic remedies work. I wish they offered herbal plant medicine studies in school in the health classes, it is said that for every disease known there is an herb that is grown.  All the best, Stephanie in Canada

I've been cutting for three years. I like when they put things like this on shows because it helps other people who don't do it understand it better. I wish that some talk show would just do a whole show on it. I once saw a whole show on it on John Walsh, and it did it justice. I just wanted to leave a comment after I saw that show the other day.

I don't know if either of you read this forum or not, but hopefully this message will be read.  I can honestly say I know what it is like to be in both of your shoes combined, but for me it was an earlier age.  At age 12 I was doing the same things you girls are and it wasn't until much later in life I realized why I did it.  I know the horrible cycles you are stuck in, I know that empty feeling that drinking and sex leave you with and I know you probably don't know how to stop it.  It is horrible that as children we learn to seek attention through such negative channels, but it is a craving that few understand and not an easy one to just "fill the void" with something else.

  

 

 

  

 

I know, even at 12, supervision only made me more rebellious, I ran away, I slept with everyone, I drank until I passed out  God knows where, I hid when I knew my parents would be off work, I hid from the cops, I knew all the spots and most of the tricks.  How do you get yourself out of this cycle before you truly crash and burn? Well, for each of us it is different, but you have to take a long hard look within to do your very best to find the root cause.  For me it was being abandoned by my mother as an infant and living with an alcoholic family that presented as glorious members of society....What a load that was.  I did realize at about age 16 that I was ruining MY life because of others actions and that to me became my driving force to prove them alllllll wrong...I wasn't the failure they chalked me up to be, I wasn't the bad seed, I wasn't the out of control teen...I was in PAIN and lots of it that was satisfied through men, drinking and drugging.  The more I pondered why I had this self hatred the more I realized that my 'habits' only reinforced them.  Sure a man paying attention to me and only me meant the world, but that only lasted a short time and the pain of rejection was compounded each and every time. Not to mention how our classmates continue to reinforce our own negative messages so hey why not live DOWN to them? I'll tell ya why, later on when you realize why and how you got to this place what they have said does NOT matter, you do begin to realize just how toxic they are. 

 

  

 

You are NOT bad kids, you are NOT drunks, you are NOT whores, and you are NOT what you believe yourself to be.  I’d bet money you are both in a HUGE amount of pain wishing someone would just understand what you can’t see right now and that is how this distorted self image came to be.  Do I think you need to blame someone? Well, if the shoe fits than yes and then you need to work your butts off to move past it.  It is OKAY to tell our secrets to safe people, it is OKAY to allow another into our world to help sort it out and it is OKAY to not pretend the past has been wonderful.  Most importantly it is OKAY to say “ya know what, I’m worth way more than someone using my body and I’m worth way more than coping through drinking myself to numb the pain”. 

  

 

  

 

I truly wish you both the BEST that life has to offer, I hope and pray that you believe even a stranger can care without wanting anything in return and I hope that you both decide to turn this around for NO ONE else except YOU. 

  

 

  

 

In closing please be careful, it is easy to disappear and never be found….and that is coming from someone lucky enough to be found just in time.

  

 

 

  

 

As a freckled, very fair-skinned person, I've never had the ability to tan. Instead, I burn in sun exposure. My siblings and I suffered several severe burns in our childhoods (I'm now 35). I've been razzed by coworkers many,. many times over the years.   

   

 "Here comes Caspar!"    

   

"You live in Florida?! You're too pale!"   

   

My red-headed brother has taken heat for slathering his red-headed children in sunscreen. We can totally understand where the tanning girl is coming from, but I would have liked to hear more frank talk to her about melanoma. She thinks having a rich husband and plastic surgery can repair sun damage, but I know all too well how wrong she is.   

   

My just-turned-61 year old father visited the doctor last November for a flu bug that just wouldn't go away. At Thanksgiving, we were informed that the lesions found on his liver and lungs were likely cancerous. The first week of December, a biospy revealed the ugly truth--malignant melanoma. He passed away December 22, on his granddaughter's 13th birthday.  The primary site was never found.   

   

Prior to this, I had no idea that skin cancer can appear on your scalp, in your pubic area, mucus membranes or other locations where you might not notice it. It does not always appear at the site of the sunburn. I'm at high risk and terrified.   

   

I hope that that young girl listened to the warnings, but she didn't seem like she took it seriously. I pray that she never has to learn the hard way. Hopefully, someone will hear the message and protect his/her skin from the dangers of excessive sun exposure.    

   

I work in a school, plus I am a mom of 3. In our school, we have adopted a character education program from a company that produces programs on TV all about issues that kids face today.  The company now produces DVDs from the TV shows.  The cool thing is that the DVDs show real kids and their true stories  There is NO ACTING.  I think this is what draws in the kids.  They can really relate to these real stories.  The DVDs are about teen sex, drug use, drinking and driving, bullying, and the list goes on.  You can preview these DVDs for free on the company's website.  Also, now the DVDs are available for individual sale.  You can go to www.connectwithkids.com and see what you think.  I think it is really worth the effort.  These DVDs are a really cool approach to many touchy subjects.  Good luck.