SELWYN Robinson spent a lot of time in the sun and the surf when he was young.
The fair-skinned stonemason of Welsh heritage saw sunscreen and hats as optional, but he says he is paying the price for it now.
"When I was 17/18, I wanted that 'healthy-looking' brown skin," he said. "I used to go to the beach every weekend with mates, and surf and lay on the sand. Now I see people sun-baking and think, ooh, they are playing with fire."
Now 62, the Port Stephens resident has had more than 40 non-melanoma skin cancers removed surgically.
He has had to have a toe amputated, as well as have targeted radiation therapy.
"Sometimes it has been tiny little things that only need a couple of stitches, but they want to make sure they get it all, so they have to get the margin around the cancer," he said. "It's like an octopus with tentacles, and if they don't get the very end of those tentacles, they can travel. I've had them everywhere. On my arms, on my cheek, my back, I've had a couple on my legs.
"A lot of people are just very blase about sun, but it is very important to be aware of these cancers, and getting sunburned. Especially for kids. It won't come back to bite them until their later years, and then it's too late."
Mr Robinson had been having some smaller squamous cell carcinomas removed when a larger cancer on his nose required the skills of a plastic surgeon.
"My doctor said, 'Mate, you're going to have to be super careful because it can go to your glands and all sorts of stuff now. You're going to have to be on the ball with hats and sunscreen'.
"About three years ago I was doing a job and I noticed my foot was really sore under one toe. In the end I couldn't even get a shoe on."
It was another non-melanoma skin cancer, and he had to have the toe removed. Then, a lump on his cheek was a basal cell cancer requiring a second surgery. It worried his doctor as it was growing inwards - 12 millimetres deep.
As he had already had two surgeries to remove the cancer, his doctor recommended he undergo Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) - a targeted radiation treatment that avoids dosing the surrounding organs - at Genesis Care.
"They didn't want to have to cut it a third time, that's why we went the radiation," he said.
Mr Robinson had nothing but praise for the Genesis Care team that oversaw his 30 VMAT treatments.
"It was a bit daunting," he said.
"They make a mask up and strap your head down to the treatment table so you don't move so they get exactly the same spot every day.
"The treatment only lasted about five minutes each time. But all of the staff there were incredible."
In Australia, the incidence of NMSC is five times higher than all other cancers combined, and can significantly impact on physical, mental and emotional wellbeing due to the associated scarring and symptoms.
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