I am always a bit nervous before I head out for a check-up with my oncologists. I have two of them -- a medical oncologist who delivered my chemotherapy and a radiation oncologist who delivered my radiation therapy. Today I see my radiation oncologist and she will examine my breasts and manipulate my breasts and feel my underarms and check for lymphedema -- swelling in the arm due to removed lymph nodes -- and she will ultimately determine whether or not I have anything to worry about at this time. It's been just over one year since my last radiation treatment and six months since I saw this doctor for a follow-up.

So I am a little apprehensive about what I might hear -- because it's always possible that something does not feel right, that something is questionable, that something has returned. I am mostly confident that I am okay but there is still an unknown that lies ahead of me. An unknown that in a matter of a few hours will be known. And I will either learn that I am in fact okay. Or I will begin another spiral into the what-if-it's-cancer scenario. Only time will tell.

In the majority of skin cancer cases, skin cancer develops on a part of the body most exposed to the sun. However, that is not always the case, and dermatologists suggest a regular self examination of your entire body skin surface.

To begin a self examination you will need a full-length mirror; a handheld mirror; and a private well-lit room. The full-length mirror allows you to exam the skin areas easily viewed and the handheld mirror gives you the chance to see skin areas not as easily seen, such as the back, scalp, underarms, genitalia, palms, soles, and areas between the toes and fingers. When you visit the Skin Care Physicians skin cancer self examination webpage, you will find an illustrated step-by-step guide, complete with body positions, to carry out a successful self examination.

The obvious danger signs of skin cancer are changes in the size, color, shape, or texture of birthmarks, blemishes, or moles. More specific, signs that should catch your attention are a sore that never fully heals; a translucent growth with rolled edges; brown or black streak underneath a nail; cluster of slow-growing, shiny pink or red lesions; a waxy-feeling scar; flat or slightly depressed lesion that feels hard to the touch or moles that bleed or itch. Photographs of suspicious looking skin growths and moles are also published on the skin cancer self examination webpage. To me, cancerous moles and lesions look nasty and seem easy to identify.

A final note from the experts, and another reason to perform regular self examinations -- if detected early, skin cancer is highly curable -- and the earlier skin cancer is diagnosed, the less scarring from surgical procedures when removing a cancerous growth.