Steffan Tubbs survived melanoma skin cancer after severe sunburns led to a diagnosis by his dermatologist
- Bruce Morton
- Jan 11, 2024
- 13 min read
DESCRIPTION
Steffan Tubbs was diagnosed with skin cancer, but he was proactive, and that approach led to early detection and survivorship. On this edition of the Cancer Interviews podcast, he tells host Bruce Morton he enjoyed a decorated career as a broadcaster and now makes documentaries and films. He is here to do so because when he noticed an abnormality on his skin and sought medical attention.
Steffan now lives in Parker, Colorado, but grew up in Southern California. After school and on weekends, it was common practice for him to hit the beach.
He was in his early twenties when he noticed this unusual mole on his chest. That’s when he went to see a dermatologist, a decision he now considers to be lifesaving. How he got to the dermatologist’s office involves a unique story.
While attending college, on a whim, he decided to take this cancer-related course. As part of the class, he saw a bunch of unusual-looking moles on an overhead projector, was told they were melanomas, and thought some of them looked just like the mole on his chest. It was within ten days that he was on a table in his college’s medical facility and the doctor told Steffan the mole in question had to be removed. That called for a procedure that had plenty of stitches.
Six months later he went in for another checkup. It was at that appointment that Steffan learned the first excision did not get all of the mole. What was left wasn’t skin cancer, but some pre-malignant cells were identified and they had to be removed, necessitating a second procedure. Upon its completion, the doctor told Steffan had the mole not been removed in full, Steffan likely would have been dead in five years.
Steffan attributes his getting ahead of melanoma to his that cancer course in college, something he just added to fill out his classload.
In retrospect, Steffan is glad he sought medical attention, but admits he could have and should have acted on this sooner. That’s why he advises everyone to be seen by a dermatologist once a year.
His diagnosis has had a profound effect on his life in more ways than one. The way he goes to the beach is different. The way he goes out into the sun is different. Living in Colorado with its high altitude also affects one’s vulnerability to UV rays. He makes liberal use of sunscreen and because of his history with skin cancer, now he sees the dermatologist once every six months.
Ventures into the sun these days include the wearing of a ballcap, long sleeve shirts and the wearing of sunscreen. Getting a tan is no longer a priority.
Steffan’s children are now young adults. He constantly preaches the importance of developing good habits where protection from the sun is concerned. He also tries to get them to see a dermatologist on a regular basis.
Steffan reiterates the importance of being seen by a dermatologist. He reminds anyone who will listen that being checked out by a dermatologist is not nearly as invasive as a colonoscopy, but just as vital, and can be done in like three minutes. He said as cancers go, skin cancer and melanoma are among the easiest to detect. Steffan said upon diagnosis, that his chance of survival was like 98.5 percent; but that’s because he took the time to be seen by a health care professional. He adds one can help oneself by being their own dermatologist, and periodically check your torso, your back, your legs, between your toes, and if something doesn’t look right to set up an appointment with a dermatologist.
Steffan Tubbs is glad he sought medical attention, as it saved his life, but if there is anything he regrets about his cancer journey, it is that it didn’t have to start as late as it did.
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TRANSCRIPT
Bruce Morton: There are many types of skin cancer, but with all of them, when one is diagnosed, one needs to take action. Our guest on this episode, Steffan Tubbs of Parker, Colorado, did just that and as a result, his is a story of survivorship. This is the @CancerInterviews podcast, and I’m your host, Bruce Morton. The story we’re going to hear from Steffan about his diagnosis of melanoma is one to which you should pay attention in order to minimize your chance of a similar diagnosis. Now here he is, and Steffan, welcome to Cancer Interviews.
Steffan Tubbs: Bruce, thank you. A pleasure to be here.
BM: All our stories are different, Steffan, but we like to start from the same place in that we want to learn more about you. So, if you would, Steffan, tell us a bit about where you are from, what you do for work and what you do for fun.
ST: You bet. It’s a pleasure to be with you. I have known you through our mutual employer, ABC News. I have been a journalist. I just retired from radio in November of 2023, and that wrapped up about a 34-year career in news, and now it is off to a different medium, if you will, and I continue to make documentaries and films, through my company, Mountain Time Media, and it has been a career that I will always treasure, getting to meet people, interviewing thousands and thousands of people like yourself. It’s great, it’s kind of a capper to my career in radio, and I look forward to bigger and better things with more documentary films.
BM: With each story of diagnosis, treatment and survivorship, there is a starting point. For you, Steffan, when did you first notice something abnormal that culminated in a cancer diagnosis?
ST: Obviously, as you know it is an emotional thing. This is the first time publicly I have ever talked about it. I had severe sunburns as a child. I grew up in San Diego and beach culture and loved it. When I was a kid and it might have been like this for you, too, I didn’t think much about sunscreen. I remember as a kid the Coppertone ads with the little girl in a bikini and a dog was pulling down half of the bottom part of her swimsuit, and I thought Coppertone was for if you just wanted a suntan, you put this stuff on and pretty much that’s what it was. I don’t begrudge my parents for not letting us get sunburns. But I would eventually become a young adult and be told I was dealing with a lot of skin issues and the doctor would guess that I had a lot of sunburn as a kid. I had sunburn so severe that I couldn’t sleep at night. Looking back, it was so stupid, and I think it was just part of being a kid in Southern California, and you’re a kid, you get out of school and get a sunburn. So, I would really become aware when I would get all of a sudden out of nowhere, I would get this mole; and I thought I didn’t get that six months ago. Maybe I did, I just didn’t know it. So, in my early 20s, which would be in the early 1990s, I started going to a dermatologist. Quite literally, I can now say that dermatologists saved my life. I want to say I don’t consider myself a survivor of anything. So would I say others would say I should say it while yet others might say I haven’t gone through anything, and that kinda how I feel. But I also welcome the time I have to spend with you to say if you haven’t seen a dermatologist in a while, now is the time. I started in my early 20s and it was darn near 30 years later when I was diagnosed with melanoma.
BM: We’re confident you’ll be able to learn some tips and tools to help you through your personal cancer journey, but first we’d like to invite you to please give us a ‘like,’ leave a comment or a review below and share this story with your friends. Kindly click on the Subscribe button below and click on the Bell icon, so you’ll be notified the next time we post an interview. And if you or a loved one are facing a cancer diagnosis, please click on the link in the Description and Show Notes below to check out our free guide, “The Top Ten Things I Wish I Knew When First Got Cancer.”
Steffan, I feel like to some degree you have already answered this question, but I will toss it your way, just the same. In speaking with our skin cancer survivor guests, we have learned when they see something abnormal, they aren’t always as urgent as they might be in terms of getting this abnormality checked. Looking back, scale of one to ten, when you initially spotted this mole, what was your level of urgency about getting the matter addressed?
ST: That’s a good question because in my early 20s, the first procedure that I went through, it was 1991, I had a mole around my breast plate, I thought these things happen. I was on the campus of my college, and I went to the medical center. I noticed the irregular borders, the kind of pinkish hue around it. What got me to this point believe it or not, was my taking a course in cancer. What was very eye-opening to me, just a frying pan to the face, was thinking that here I am, going to the beach in college, lovin’ life and livin’ large and just started workin’ in radio, and I am in this course. I remember this overhead projector showing a bunch of bad-looking moles. These can be melanomas, I remember, and I thought, “My God, that looks exactly like the one on my chest.” It was within ten days that I was on the table on our college’s medical facility and the doctor said, “You need to take this (the mole) out.” Looking back, I wish I would have involved my mom, who was a nurse, more than I did. I just thought I would take care of it, it’s not that big of a deal. It turns out the procedure that I had, I had plenty of stitches, and then lo and behold, I went in six months later for a checkup back home. I was living in the central coast of California for college in San Luis Obispo and then went back home to San Diego. My mom said I should go to my regular doctor, so I did, and sure enough that first excision didn’t get all of the mole. It wasn’t a cancer, but there were some pre-malignant cells, and I was told I had to get this removed; so, I went in for a second procedure on this thing on my chest. I look back, Bruce, and realize that if I didn’t take the cancer course in college, I probably would not have paid attention. Then fast forward 30 years to when I was diagnosed with melanoma and they got it out, when you hear from a doctor that is 10-15 years younger than you, that if I hadn’t had this looked at, I would probably dead within five years. That is another frying pan to the face.
BM: The ‘C’ word is the ‘C’ word, Steffan. Each person is different and so, too, is each diagnoses. If you take into account the variables in your cancer equation, how did you handle this terrible news?
ST: You know what? When I heard my diagnosis, I was thinking about it for the first time because before I said anything, I wanted to make sure everything was okay. I thought to myself, regarding the diagnosis, it was probably about time. I had had so many sunburns as a kid. By happenstance, I took a cancer class in college, saw the image of exactly what I’ve got, and I would subsequently go every year to the dermatologist. Then one year became every two years, then every five years, then around 2018, I decided this had to be every year. Then they would tell me I needed to come in every six months. That’s when the melanoma was discovered, and back to your question, it really occurred to me I had dodged this for decades. Doctors had said to be careful, be careful and then all of a sudden, here it was. You gotta what you gotta do, so I went for the small surgical procedure, and thank goodness upon follow-ups and everything, it did not return.
BM: How difficult was the followup phase? In other words, you had the procedure done, but afterwards what needed to be done?
ST: Really not much more. I consider myself fortunate. I look at friends who went through so much more than I and to me, those are the true cancer survivors. Again, going back to when you hear that ‘C’ word for the first time, I guess I wasn’t totally shocked because I knew that there were rapid changes and so forth, but there is that moment when you think to yourself, “You gotta be kidding me. That’s me. I’ve got this and I’d better take care of it.” But as far as the proactive stuff, I no longer go to the beach the same, I no longer vacation the same, living at altitude in Colorado, I no longer go outside without the easiest sunscreen precautions, but for me, I have got to see the dermatologist every six months. I still hear the words of those doctors who say I was lucky this was caught when it was because otherwise it would have spread, gotten into the lymph nodes and I eventually would have died from this.
BM: You mentioned precautions and you mentioned sunscreen. Anything else you do now? Do you wear a ballcap or do you regulate when you go out in the sun, as there can be less exposure to the sun at 8:00am than at 12 noon?
ST: I think clothing is big. I recently went on vacation to Florida and again, I look at my early 20s compared to my mid 50s and I look at how I vacation. When I was younger, I thought if I get a little sunburn, that will turn into a tan and everybody wants to have a tan, and so forth. Now, first thing I did on this vacation, I realized I was going to be spending more time in and on the water than I even anticipated. First thing I did was go to the store and get one of those long sleeve SPF shirts. No longer do you worry about being tan. I’d much rather have no sun at all. I love the outdoors, but I love the sunscreen. I tell my kids incessantly don’t forget the sunscreen. Hats are important. There are lifestyle changes, even within months of a melanoma diagnosis.
BM: Where sun exposure is concerned, I suspect this would have been a critical juncture for your kids, as you would want them to develop good habits. Was that a challenge?
ST: It’s common sense and fairly easy. My kids are young adults, but I remember preaching that to them that they have to wear sunscreen. Some of the times I have been most angry at my kids would be when after telling them to wear sunscreen, they would come back from being outdoors and they would come in with sunburn. I would wonder how many times I would have to tell them. Now, the dermatologist can be your best friend, but your life saver as well. I know that had I not been in a routine of seeing a dermatologist, I don’t think I’d be around much longer, so I do definitely try to pawn that off on the kids, and as good of a shame and guilt kind of way.
BM: Well, you did see the dermatologist and you are still here, and we are glad for that. Steffan, we always begin our interviews from the same place, and end them in the same fashion. Specifically, if you encountered someone who had been diagnosed with one of the many types of skin cancer, had a private audience with them and an opportunity to share the wisdom that had come from your experience, if there was one point you wanted to make sure that other person would remember, what would it be?
ST: Get…checked…regularly…period. This is not as invasive as a colonoscopy or going through x-rays. Yeah, so you have to get down to your skivvies and have some trained professional scour body for three minutes at most. Skin cancer and melanoma is absolutely easiest to detect. Before our interview, I checked my doctor’s report and upon diagnosis, one’s chances of survival was 98.5 percent. That’s because I got checked. I just couldn’t emphasize this enough, whether it’s your hands or your back or your upper torso, your legs, check between your toes, look for those places on the top of your ears. What easier way is there to look at something on your body and say, “This doesn’t look right. And I am going to book my appointment, “and within moments, some trained professional could possibly save your life. To me, there is no excuse. Skin cancer should be one of those that can be treated successfully.
BM: The number of different types of cancer goes into triple digits. They are all different, but they have one common thread and that is, and this is so important, early detection is key. Your detection of melanoma might not have been as early as you wanted it, but it was early enough so that you were able to overcome the melanoma and that’s the most important part. Steffan Tubbs, Parker, Colorado, thanks so much for being with us on Cancer Interviews.
ST: Bruce, thank you for your time and congratulations for your success, and continue to do the great work.
BM: Thanks, Steffan. And we will say as we conclude that if you or a loved one are on a cancer journey, you are not alone. There are people out there like Steffan, who through their experience, have words of wisdom that can benefit your cancer journey. So, until next time, we’ll see you on down the road.
SHOW NOTES
TITLE: Steffan Tubbs - Melanoma Survivor – Parker, Colorado, USA
After years of sunburn as a kid, in his twenties, Steffan Tubbs noticed an unusual-looking mole on his chest. After two failed attempts to surgically remove it, about thirty years later, he was diagnosed with melanoma. A third procedure removed the cancer in its entirety. When he goes outdoors, he takes a series of precautions to limit his exposure to the sun and tells everyone to make sure that with regularity they are seen by a dermatologist.
Additional Resources:
Cancer Interviews: https://www.cancerinterviews.com
Time Stamps:
02:37 Steffan said he often had severe sunburn as a kid.
03:54 Recalls when he first noticed an unusual mole.
04:42 Urges people to see a dermatologist.
06:30 Steffan describes the unusual mole and the surgical procedure that attempted to remove it.
08:27 Learned he would need a second procedure because the first one failed to remove all of the mole.
09:39 His reaction to the diagnosis.
11:03 Describes the third surgical procedure after he was diagnosed.
12:10 Steffan discusses how his diagnosis affects his going outdoors.
16:35 His advice to others diagnosed with skin cancer.
KEYWORDS (tags):
cancer
skin cancer
Cancer Interviews
bruce morton
melanoma
dermatologist
steffan tubbs
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