Portrait of a Porcelain: I Was Diagnosed with Skin Cancer at 16

Like many little pale girls, when I was young, many well meaning family members pushed me outside in the sun because I needed "just a little color." I burned every time. They'd push me back out in the sun, sunburn and all, telling me that if I did it enough, I'd start tanning.

I never tanned.

I do, however, have pretty severe sun damage on my decolletage. I scour my body, especially that area, for any sign of strange moles, new textures on existing moles, and anything else that looks amiss. I've rushed to my dermatologists with concerns as minor as "I think one of my moles may itch slightly," and they humor me every time. Luckily, I'm yet to be diagnosed with skin cancer, but that fear is always in the back of my mind.

I recently had the honor of meeting Hannah through the Rock Your Porcelain Instagram account. Hannah, a citizen of Germany, told me how she had been diagnosed with Basal Cell Carcinoma at the young age of 16, and I knew immediately that I wanted to hear her story.

According to SkinCancer.org Basal Cell Carcinomas (BCCs) are "abnormal, uncontrolled growths or lesions that arise in the skin’s basal cells, which line the deepest layer of the epidermis (the outermost layer of the skin). BCCs often look like open sores, red patches, pink growths, shiny bumps, or scars. Usually caused by a combination of cumulative UV exposure and intense, occasional UV exposure, BCC can be highly disfiguring if allowed to grow, but almost never spreads (metastasizes) beyond the original tumor site. Only in exceedingly rare cases can BCC spread to other parts of the body and become life-threatening."

And if you're thinking, "No big deal, it rarely becomes life threatening," go back to the part where it says it can be "highly disfiguring." I googled this, to spare you the gross pictures, and let me tell you: they really mean it can be highly disfiguring. If you have a strong stomach, here you go. (WARNING: very disturbing pictures)

Hannah took the time to answer some of my questions about her experience with being diagnosed with BCC, and at such a young age:

RYP: How old were you when you were diagnosed with skin cancer, and what was the exact diagnosis?

Hannah: I was 14 when it appeared and at 16 I went the doctor to cut away the "wart" underneath my eye. A week later he called me and told me that the thing was not a "wart," that it was a "basaliom" (note: "basaliom" is the German word for Basal Cell Carcinoma). So that I had white skin cancer. And that he has to cut more tissue away otherwise it will grow back. Later I informed myself on the Internet and found out that I could not die from it, but that it destroys the tissue of my skin. 

RYP: When did you first notice that something was wrong? 

Hannah: Because it had not disappeared in two years, I thought it was a "wart," but my dad noticed that it had grown and he wanted a doctor to cut it away. 

RYP: You were diagnosed with skin cancer at such a young age, was the possibility of getting skin cancer ever even a thought in your mind prior to the diagnosis? 

Hannah: I did not ever know that white skin cancer existed, but I knew how dangerous black skin cancer could be because my mother had it and survived it. So I thought I could get black skin cancer, too. But not at that age. 

RYP: I'm so glad that everything turned out OK for you, but it must have been such a scary diagnosis to receive; what was going through your mind when the doctor first brought up skin cancer?

Hannah: I was so shocked by the word "cancer" and directly started to cry. My family was around me, helped me, and we started to google it. The pictures of other basalioms looked definitely more shocking than mine. That I could not die from it should have calmed me down, but the fact that mainly people around 60 get this shocked me even more. And that it just appears in the face area and destroys the skin tissue made me cry again. 

RYP: How has having gone through this impacted your life? Do you do anything different now? 

Hannah: Of couse it has! Now I just love my skin colour. I never would want to be tanned, and I think that everybody should love their natural skin colour. I think that a beauty ideal is unnecessary, and that Sun Studios (tanning salons) should be removed. Another thing I started to do was to protect my skin every day with a spf of 50. 

RYP: What would be your advice to fellow fair-skinned girls out there who may feel similar to you prior to developing skin cancer? 

Hannah: Fair-skinned girls should accept and love their own skin because it's beautiful. And most importantly protect it on an everyday basis because they have a higher risk to get white and black skin cancer. I would suggest to wear at least a spf of 30 in their daily moisturizer.

Love your skin and protect it, we couldn't agree more. THANK YOU Hannah, for sharing your story with us.

Hannah today, skin cancer free