A learned behavior
Shonda Schilling (right) cycled in this years Pan-Massachusetts Challenge with (left to right) Red Sox wives Kathryn Nixon, Dawn Timlin, and Nixon's friend Bassima Connelly.
Education is the best medicine. I love when kids say, 'Look Mrs. Schilling, I'm being sun safe! I love the fact that when we do the SHADE poster competition, families are talking about it and parents are admitting to me, 'I know about using sunscreen, but it's the one thing that gets left off the morning routine. I just say to them, 'Eventually this is going to be a learned behavior, and it's really important for you to be checked [by a dermatologist] and to take a good look at your kids bodies so you know where the moles are. My approach is not to badger, its to listen and say it again and again. Hopefully, wearing sun block will become something that everybody does— not just in summer but all year round.
Always wear sunglasses with UV ray protection.
Always wear a wide-brim hat made from a closeweave fabric.
Always wear protective clothing, long-sleeved shirts and pants.
During the peak sun hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., reduce sun exposure.
Every 90 minutes, reapply sun block with an SPF (sun protection factor) of at least 15.
The people in Boston and Arizona where SHADE has been most active have heard the message enough, and organizations are fantastic about helping us spread the word. I think people will start to make this a part of their lives, like wearing seat belts. You see it now: You can go to the drugstore and see where five years ago, the shelves were lined with sun tanning oils. Now they're filled with sun block, and some of the big companies that produce oils are running sun-safety ads.
At the same time, tanning salons are still popping up everywhere. The tanning industry does not like me. They'll write on their websites that I should keep my mouth shut and don't know what I'm talking about. The truth of the matter is, I laid on tanning beds for 10 years, and the part of the skin that lays flat on the bed is where half of my back is missing from surgery. I'm not going to convince the industry differently, and I'm not going to stop speaking out, either.
Why did we pick Dana-Farber to work with SHADE on the skin cancer prevention initiative? First off, when I was diagnosed, my second opinion came from Dana-Farber. Then, after Curt joined the Red Sox, and with Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund being so close with the Red Sox Foundation, it seemed like a perfect match. Other wives on the team are always asking me about moles or telling stories about skin cancer, and most of them don't tan anymore. In fact, anywhere I go, people want to talk about it. I am starting to get more comments like, 'I love what youre doing' or 'I lost my soul mate or my daughter …'. They're just glad someone is talking about it.
"Being public about this gives me a sense of purpose."
Being public about this gives me a sense of purpose, and I look at life in such a different way now. I'm reminded of the cancer every day because the scars are on the outside, but I have to learn to almost shut that off and keep going forward. It's great to be part of changing sun behavior, but I also face the guilt of being a survivor. Right before I started the foundation, I received three or four letters from women my age who had kids and were dying from their cancer. They were looking to me for help, but I couldn't help them. I never met the women or talked with them, but they stay in my heart, and I hope that I am honoring them by doing this work."
