Diana M

For an outdoor enthusiast and athlete the sun can warm the soul or be a formidable opponent. Diana is a tennis player, hiker, sailing enthusiast and plein air painter who grew up sailing with her father on sparkling Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island. After years of fun in the sun, she has learned to wear “the biggest, floppiest hats possible” and seek the shade (even when she’d rather not).

What’s your sun story?

I grew up in New England where everyone went to the beach in the summer and tended to overdue it because we were stuck inside all winter. My Dad loved to sail -- we had cat boats and Sunfish. I eventually purchased my own sailboat to knock around in. I wore a visor and a wetsuit on most outings … but I got more sunburns than I care to admit.

When I came out to LA in my late twenties with my future husband Sam, I biked to grad school every day since we only had one car. I tried to be careful and be protected and never went without sunscreen on my face and wore a hat. I was worried about getting fried in the face, but I didn’t think about my arms or legs. And the new thing on school breaks was hiking and backpacking in the High Sierras. The higher the altitude, the better. I really tried to tame the sun -- I wore long sleeves, a hat and a scarf to cover my neck.

How did you learn you had skin cancer?

I went to Dr. Krasnoff to refill a prescription and she looked at some of the birthmarks and big freckles on my arms. I was also getting itchy, scaly spots by my nose. It was In Situ Melanoma on my arm -- early stages. I had surgery to remove it. It healed well and you can hardly see the scar. She was wonderful to have caught that. It was a wakeup call.

Little things started to dawn on me -- like I always had my arm out the passenger side during road trips.

How has it changed you?

Since the melanoma I wear long sleeve t-shirts, and a neck scarf when I hike. I wear sweatpants when I play tennis, even though it’s a pain in the *%$# ! I wear a hat everywhere I go, year round. I wear the biggest brim you can get - - ridiculous looking hats.

I seek shade now. You do have to adapt. Even if I knew there were super wonder products I wouldn’t want to push my luck.