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[saffronlie]

So I decided not to go to uni today as surely I can't be expected to go back full-time immediately after having had a month off, that would be crazy, and also I was feeling sorry for myself as my skin has gone mental with sunburn, hives, eczema, acne, etc

Comments

[pandorasblog]

I think it's totally normal to feel like that; we all have different boundaries and some people can cope with a lot of strangers and proximity, while others can't. I'm a 'can't'. Or rather, I can handle it in very specific circumstances, like hospital (though the one-bathroom-between-six-people thing is my limit), but I'm very glad to get my own space again

[saffronlie]

It's ridic, but the stereotype that a tan is a healthy glow and a pre-requisite of life in Australia is really persistent here. For a lot of people it will take having themselves or someone they love diagnosed with or even die from melanoma before they take action. We've been hearing horror stories for years about how even teenagers can get skin cancer and die, but for me at least it's only in the last couple of years that my parents' and grandparents' generation have started having skin cancer problems and it's really hitting home for me, although I've ALWAYS been conscientious about it

[pandorasblog]

I actually heard that a girl I used to be penpals with died of skin cancer not long ago. I don't know how she got it, though since I knew her through NACC there's an additional layer of weirdness of her having had Crohn's, and her nearly having died during a botched hospital test, and then something like this happening. It's been a very long time since we corresponded so I'm not cut up about it as such, but it's... odd.

Thanks for telling me that about SPF; I never actually knew that (or indeed anything about how it works)! And yeah, could be worth checking your meds' info leaflets to see if there's anything about sun hypersensitivity. Though if you're prone to worrying about stuff mentioned in leaflets (they have to mention even that hideous one-off, one-in-a-million chance that the drug makes your head fall off), you might be better asking your pharmacist.