Her mission to educate extends far beyond her L.A.-area home, though.
“People think, ‘Oh, I just need to put sunscreen on when I’m going to be outside at the pool or going to the beach with my family,'” said Mellencamp. But with a huge portion of her melanomas on the right side of her body, where the sun would hit her in the passenger seat, she realized, “You need to be aware when you’re in the car, when you are pretty much doing anything.”
She also stresses the importance of hats, sunglasses and clothing with UVA and UVB protection—”I thought as long as it was a longsleeve shirt, my skin was protected”—and getting your eyes checked, as melanoma can also present there.
But for Mellencamp—set to emcee the Melanoma Research Foundation’s annual gala in New York City Oct. 24—her biggest rush of pride comes when doctors share that patients were inspired to come in for a check after seeing her story.
“It’s very important that people know they should go to a certified, licensed dermatologist, to get their checks,” she stressed. “And the check should take more than five seconds. It should be a full body check.”