The life-saving benefits of early detection
Why preventative screening is so important from middle age, onward
👋Hello, my friend. A quick one for you today before my family and I are wheels-up to Costa Rica for spring break. Looking forward to checking out the "pura vida" in this Central American gem that I've been hearing about for so long. Today, I'm sharing a quick personal story that (I hope) drives home the importance of preventative screening.
Let's do it!
The potentially life-saving benefits of preventative screening
A few years ago, I started seeing the dermatologist once a year for a preventative full-body skin screening. It's generally quick and painless - in and out of the doctor's office in about 30 minutes.
Last year, the doc saw something a little weird. She sliced a little bit of it off of me, had it biopsied, and it came back negative. No probs. Just had to wear a Band-Aid for a week.
This year, slightly different story. Same deal - she saw something that looked a little out of the ordinary, sliced a tiny piece of it off, had it biopsied and then... I got a call. A "do you have time to discuss something?" type of call.
Uh-oh. She explained that the results of the biopsy showed that the skin irregularity on my back was a malignant melanoma. That's another word for skin cancer. And the not-so-great kind. The kind that spreads. And can be very dangerous if not caught early. Ugh. Gut punch.
I have to be honest, that kind of freaked me out. Now, the good news (in my mind) was that my doc wasn't freaking out, so that made me feel better. She did, however, make it clear that the next step was to get me into see a surgical oncologist, ASAP.
So... a week ago, I found myself sitting in the Levine's Cancer Center here in Charlotte asking about a thousand questions to the surgical oncologist who was assessing my situation.
He explained to me how melanomas work. Basically, they grow inward, so the deeper yours goes, the worse off you are. If you don't catch it early enough, the melanoma can spread (“drain” I think he said) to the nearest lymph node, which in my case would be in my armpit.
Once it gets there, things get a bit more complicated. The treatment gets much more intense and invasive and the prognosis gets worse.
Fortunately (knock on wood), it appears that my melanoma was caught at an early enough stage that it's very unlikely (again, knock on wood) that it has spread.
For me, it should be a relatively simple procedure — the surgeon will make an incision a few inches wide on my back, remove the melanoma and then stich me back together. Maybe I'll have a little scar but that should hopefully be the extent of it.
Assuming that's how it all goes down, the longer-lasting impacts of this little episode will be two-fold:
I will now be required to have full-body scans from my dermatologist twice a year (I'm perfectly fine with this).
I will probably need to be more careful in the sun. I've gotten a lot of burns in my life - particularly as a kid/teen - and now that I've had a melanoma, according to the doc, I am now statistically 10x more likely than the general population to get another one. Not great news, but I'd rather know this than not know it.
So... what's the moral of the story? Go get yourself screened!
If I didn't have this annual scan with my dermatologist, I honestly have no idea when I would have found or seen this thing. Well, to be honest, I wouldn't have seen it since it was on my back... someone else would have needed to spot it. If that happened to come two years down the line... who knows what the prognosis would have been? I'm glad I don't need to find out.
I'm a massive proponent of preventative screening of all types and my thinking on this subject has been heavily influenced by Dr. Peter Attia’s book, Outlive — which I discussed here — especially when it comes to heart health, where I think preventative screening and monitoring makes a ton of sense. I discussed the specifics of what I've done on that front here. (Cliff’s notes version: LDL cholesterol, apoB, LP(a), CT calcium scan).
On a related note, if you're reading this, are over 40 and haven't had a colonoscopy yet... please do that. The guidelines say 45 but spend 5 minutes on Google and you'll see that almost anyone with common sense is saying that age 40 makes a lot more sense these days with the rapid increase in cancers that are appearing in young people. I've seen friends and classmates taken way too young because they didn't catch cancer early enough.
By the way, this is (obviously) in no way meant to be an exhaustive list of recommended preventative screens — just the ones that are top of mind for me at the moment. Breast cancer screening stands out as another obvious one. What else? Anything you’d recommend in particular? Feel free to leave a comment if you’d like others to see. Collective awareness is good thing in my humble opinion.
Okay, that's it for today. I'm off to Costa Rica... where I will not be completely avoiding the sun but… full disclosure: I have just purchased two new "sun shirts" so I will be trying to be smarter about my sun exposure.
I'll see you in two weeks, but before you go, I've got a few great content recommendations for you...
Content Diet
Tim Ferriss x Cal Newport — How to Embrace Slow Productivity, Build a Deep Life, Achieve Mastery and Defend Your Time
Who doesn’t want to do all of those things? I sure do. I’m a fan of Cal Newport’s. I’ve read a few of his books and listened to him on lots of podcasts. He’s gone the complete opposite direction of most of society in that he lives in a largely analog world (read: he’s not on social media). He’s out with a new book in which he argues that we should do less, focus more, obsess over quality, and generally not try to chase shiny objects. When it comes to actual fulfillment in life and creating amazing work, I think he’s really on to something. Worth your time.
Andrew Huberman x Dr. Becky Kennedy — Protocols for Excellent Parenting and Improving Relationships of All Kinds
A Huberman parenting episode? That’s right up my alley. And this one did not disappoint. Dr. Becky Kennedy is fantastic. So many great strategies for tackling all the challenges that parenting presents. Somehow she wasn’t on my radar before, but I’ve just subscribed to her podcast after hearing her on this one. Very solid listen. One that I may be revisiting.
The Journal (WSJ) podcast: Who wants a Non-Alcoholic Beer? Everyone, apparently.
Well, I guess this whole N/A trend has legit gone big-time. Very cool to see my friends at Athletic Brewing Company profiled on The Wall Street Journal’s podcast, which is a pretty regular listen for me. This episode tells the high-level story of N/A beers taking off and how Athletic CEO, Bill Shufelt has been at the forefront. But if you want the real story… you can always listen to my podcast with Bill (here) which is still one of my all-time favs.
Full Swing - Season 2 - Netflix
I’m not gonna recommend Love is Blind over here (even if this season does take place in Charlotte) because this is a ‘high-brow’ publication, but I will make a PSA to let you know that Season 2 of this behind-the-scenes reality show documenting the lives of PGA golfers is now streaming. With all the LIV tour drama and hard-hitting interviews with Brooks Koepka’s wife & co., you might even be able to convince your non-golf-liking spouse to watch it with you.
Okay, that’s it for today. Tell me I added some value to your life with this newsletter!
See you in two weeks.
Greg