Karlton Thornton of St. Louis County knows how to make every day count, living life to its fullest. He is an active community servant for his district school board and church and is a husband, a father of two, and a meter supervisor at Ameren.
Always an outdoor person at work and swimming all the time when he was growing up, Thornton said, “Never once did I ever recall applying sunscreen or even wearing large hats.
“I never gave it a second thought.”
That small line on one side of his nose would make you think it was a scar from a sports injury back in the day. That demarcation represents Karlton Thornton after melanoma surgery.
Melanoma is the most dangerous form of skin cancer, accounting for less than 5 percent of all skin cancer cases but the vast majority of skin cancer deaths, according to the American Cancer Society. It is more aggressive in invading other parts of the body. ACS says melanoma is 10 times more common in whites than in African Americans and before age 40, more common in women than men. After age 40, the rate flips and is almost twice as high in men as in women. Overall, the ACS estimates the lifetime risk of getting melanoma is about 2 percent (1 in 50) for whites, 0.1 percent (1 in 1,000) for blacks, and 0.5 percent (1 in 200) for Hispanics.
All three types of skin cancer, basal cell, squamous and melanoma are highly treatable and curable in its early stages.
Melanoma begins in melanocytes, the cells that make the pigment melanin. It may begin in a mole but can also begin in other pigmented tissues, such as in the eye or in the intestines. The National Cancer Institute estimates there will be 76,250 new cases and 9,180 deaths from melanoma in the United States in 2012.
Thornton’s melanoma started a few years ago as a small mark or on his nose.
“Like as mole – like a birthmark almost,” he said, and again, not giving it another thought.
Thornton didn’t notice the spot was growing.
His doctor, who hadn’t seen Thornton in a long time, became suspicious of the spot and encouraged him to get it checked out.
A surgeon took a sample of the spot and sent it for testing.
“And the whole time, I was thinking, ‘It’s nothing. Blacks don’t get skin cancer,’” Thornton said.
Wrong.
“And it came back and they said, ‘It’s melanoma,” Thornton said.
Fortunately for Thornton, his doctors said the cancer was in-situ, which means it hadn’t spread to other sites. The surgery took place near the end of last summer.
“I was really blessed to be found out early enough that they were able to remove part of my nose to get all the melanoma,” Thornton said. “It had gone down pretty deep, maybe about 3 millimeters, so they had to take a sizable hunk of my nose out.”
He said the operation and the recovery was very painful. His wife, Karen, assisted with cleaning and redressing the wound until it healed. Thornton said he had a good plastic surgeon who pulled skin from the opposite side of his nose to replace what was removed.
“I asked for the Denzel Washington look, but…” he said.
But looking like Karlton is just fine.
“I have a new nose, but it’s still the same me.”
This is Thornton’s third bout with cancer. He underwent chemotherapy and radiation twice and a stem cell auto transplant in the late 1990s for separate battles with lymphoma.
After surviving skin cancer, he doesn’t go outside before applying sunscreen and wearing protective clothing.
Thornton is writing a book about his and his wife’s experiences while overcoming serious health issues.
