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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; A local woman is taking her fight against skin cancer to Washington this weekend.</p><p>Salina Kennedy, of Wilkes-Barre, and her caregiver, Todd Martin, are going to speak at the Melanoma Research Foundation Advocacy Summit and Hill Day to advocate for more funding for education and research on the disease.</p><p>Cancer diagnoses across the county are decreasing, but melanoma is increasing &#8220;at epidemic rates,&#8221; according to the foundation. Melanoma can appear anywhere on or in the body where pigment cells are present.</p><p>Kennedy, who has Stage 3A metastasized melanoma, will be leaving for the nation&#8217;s capital todayand returning Monday after a legislative breakfast and briefing. Several area lawmakers are sending staff members to listen to Kennedy&#8217;s remarks, including U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Moosic, and U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Hazleton.</p><p>Kennedy, who founded the Northeast Pennsylvania Melanoma Exchange, will relate her personal story before discussing the disease and how she became so educated about it.</p><p>Last year, at age 41, Kennedy found a breast lump. After making an appointment with her physician, she began to get nervous.</p><p>&#8220;Breast cancer runs in my father&#8217;s family,&#8221; she noted.</p><p>Her doctor referred her to a dermatologist. Kennedy said she remembered the look on the dermatologist&#8217;s face after he saw a mark on her back.</p><p>&#8220;I just couldn&#8217;t talk anymore,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Kennedy said her cancer was caused by too much exposure to the sun as a child.</p><p>&#8220;Just three to five sunburns can affect children,&#8221; she added.</p><p>Kennedy had surgery to remove two lymph nodes in her left armpit, the mark on her back and a tumor in her breast.</p><p>After getting stitched up, she went home.</p><p>&#8220;It was the most horrible day of my life,&#8221; she recalled.</p><p>But the good news was the dermatologist believed he removed all the cancer from her body. Since then, she has elected to have follow-up appointments instead of chemotherapy or immunotherapy. She had one scare, though. It happened at her first after-surgery checkup.</p><p>&#8220;The follow-ups are really working,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Kennedy said she will urge lawmakers to support increased funding for research and warn them of the dangers of tanning beds. In 2009, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified tanning beds as &#8220;carcinogenic to humans&#8221; &#8212; its highest cancer-risk category.</p><p>And while she realizes &#8220;girls aren&#8217;t going to be pasty in a prom gown,&#8221; Kennedy says there are much healthier ways to get a tan, including sprays.</p><p>Recently, Kennedy filed to make the Northeast Pennsylvania Melanoma Exchange a nonprofit. The exchange aims to educate people, especially the young, about melanoma.</p><p>She&#8217;s also in the process of becoming certified to teach about the cancer at schools, clubs and other organizations.</p><p>&#8220;We know it&#8217;s one step at a time,&#8221; she said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Kennedy </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_web1_Salina-3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Kennedy </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Melanoma patient willaddress lawmakers</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Melanie Mizenko</p><p>mmizenko@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p>To keep up with Salina Kennedy as she advocates for melanoma in Washington, D.C., follow the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/nepamelanomaexchange" target="_blank">Northeast Pennsylvania Melanoma Exchange on Facebook</a>.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Melanie Mizenko at 570-991-6116 or on Twitter @TL_MMizenko.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Wilkes-Barre woman will take cancer fight to Washington, D.C.