The National Council on Skin Cancer Prevention has designated the Friday before Memorial Day as "Don't Fry Day" in hopes of highlighting the importance of sun safety.
Gillespie said she began lying outside to tan around the age of 14, despite her mother's best attempts to stop her.
"My mother used to say, 'You don't need to be out there,' but I didn't listen, and I didn't pay attention," she said.
Gillespie said her love for the sun didn't stop outside; she used to visit the tanning beds at least once a day.
Her love for tanned skin continued up until her late 50s when she began to get irritated by the bumps and spots that had started forming on her arms, chest and especially on her legs.
Gillespie was referred to Dr. Pamela Allen, a dermatologist with OU Physicians, to take a look at her skin.
"They looked at my leg and said, 'That's a melanoma,'" Gillespie said. "I said, 'Oh, goodness.' I was scared."
Melanoma more common
Allen said melanoma is showing up more and more in people because of the lack of sun safety education in recent years.
Allen said it's been estimated that melanoma will kill one American every hour and that there will be 76,000 cases of melanoma this year.
"Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the U.S. and the most common cancer among 20- to 30-year-olds," Allen said. "Teenagers are sometimes the most difficult to convince to use sunscreen. They think they are too young to get skin cancer, but the damage they do in their teen years can lead to skin cancer when they are only in their 20s."
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