“If there’s one thing I want people to remember about me, it’s that I f***ing love window tinting,” says Mike Burke. “That’s my legacy.” The owner of Sun Stoppers has to think about his legacy sooner than most, though, as he’s fighting an aggressive form of skin cancer.

Mother Knows Best

Burke has known he was susceptible to skin cancer for decades.

“My ancestors were Irish, so I’m pale and burn pretty easily,” he says. “That’s not ideal for someone like me who loves the outdoors. Plus, my mom had to get spots on her skin removed frequently. She’s actually the one who insisted I start going to the dermatologist regularly when I was in my mid-30s.”

Mike Burke says he’s making the most out of life while undergoing cancer treatment.

Burke listened and started making yearly dermatology appointments, but he says nothing rang any alarms for the next decade or so. Then, a spot on his arm started bothering him.

“It was itching and burning,” he says. “The dermatologist said it was skin cancer and removed the spot.”

Unfortunately, that spot was only the beginning of a battle that he’s been fighting for the past 10 years.

Pulling Weeds

“I kept getting spots of skin cancer in different places, and the doctors kept excising them,” Burke says. “I’ve had just about every kind of skin cancer that there is.”

More and more spots cropped up, leading to Burke’s current diagnosis of Aggressive Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

“It’s kind of like pulling weeds in the garden,” he says. “They could pull them individually at first, but now there are too many. We have to treat the whole yard.”

The metaphorical “yard” is Burke’s body, and the gardeners are the medical staff at the Arizona Cancer Research Facility and Charlotte Skin & Laser.

Mike Burke keeps a smile on his face throughout his intense and painful treatment.

“They have me taking a medication to help reduce the spread of the cancer,” he says. “It’s not going to get rid of it, but at least they won’t have to remove as many chunks of skin.”

That’s just a small part of his treatment, Burke says. It also involves lasering cancerous spots, applying chemo cream directly to his skin, and a blue-light treatment.

“They apply a chemical to my skin for that treatment and then put me under a blue light for 15 minutes or so,” he says. “That might not sound too bad, but it hurts like a third-degree burn.”

There’s not much that Burke can take for the pain other than over-the-counter painkillers and a numbing cream that “doesn’t actually help.”

“I have to do this every couple of months for the rest of my life,” he says.

Staying Grounded

Between the cancer and other health issues, Burke says constant pain has become his new normal.

“I’m paralyzed in my left leg, I’ve had both hips replaced and a bunch of other surgeries,” he says. “I go through depressive episodes where the pressure to live up to expectations feels like more than I can handle on top of everything else.”

As if all that isn’t enough, Burke is also coping with the loss of his best friend, who recently died of stomach cancer.

“He barely made it a year after his diagnosis,” Burke says. “I miss him so much. He was the baddest dude on the planet.”

Though devastating, Burke says the loss gave him perspective.

“Every day I’m in pain, at least I know that feeling that pain means I’m alive,” he says. “I know my friend would much rather be alive and in pain than dead.”

For Burke, living life to the fullest includes taking care of his health in other ways, like going to the gym.

Burke says his whole outlook on life has changed knowing that his time is limited.

“I live life faster now,” he says. “I have to get everything done now.”

Making the World Better

For Burke, this means settling his affairs so his family and company aren’t left scrambling.

“Most people don’t think about who will take over when you die,” he says. “I’m working on simplifying certain aspects of my business so it’s in a good place if I’m not here anymore.”

Burke is also tracking down things like bank account information and titles for his personal property. He says he has about 90% of that figured out.

“I’ll have a lot more peace once that’s handled,” Burke says. “Peace is all I want right now.”

Continuing to mentor others in the industry, especially small business owners, is another priority.

“I tell them that being small is often an advantage,” he says. “If you don’t have any employees, you don’t have to worry about handling personnel or any of those logistics. I always say that if you want to play in the big leagues, you have to prepare for bigger problems.”

Burke hasn’t just helped educate window tint business owners.

“My doctors now know more about how UV tint can help prevent skin damage and skin cancer,” he says. “Now, they’re recommending it to their other patients.”

Mike Burke says he’s in good hands with his medical care team.

Sun Stoppers is developing another product that will help protect customers’ skin, but it’s not window film.

“We’re working on a sunscreen brand marketed toward men,” he says. “A lot of sunscreen and other skincare products are marketed toward women. I want to create something that encourages men to take care of their skin and stay healthy, too.”

As he battles cancer, Burke says his only fear is not living life to the fullest. Continuing his window-tinting career is one of the things that fulfills him.

“I’ve been tinting for 36 years, and I’m still in love with what I do,” he says.