Dear Jaran
Welcome to the group. First of all, YES by all means at least go have this
checked by a doctor. It sounds really suspicious to me. Please don't take
chances with your life. Second of all, if it turns out to be nothing, you will
only be out of pocket for one appointment and one test. But if it does turn out
to be something, there is financial help through the American Cancer Society.
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/home/index.asp
I am sure this is a pretty scary time for you, but please don't get worried and
upset until you know for certian what this is. Deal with things as they come
one day at a time. Also if you are unable to pay for a doctor visit over
something this serious, go to a major hospital near by, and go to the Emergency
Room. They are bound by law to help you even if you can not pay or have no
insurance. You can pay 1.00 a manth toward your bill as a token of your good
faith.
If you could e-mail me personally with your location, I may be able to find you
some additional help. Another suggestion I could give you is to go to the
Social Services Department of your local hospital and talk to a Social Worker
for free. Let them know of your dilemma. They may be able to tell you what
help or services that could be available to you in your area.
I will be thinking about you and praying for you. Please reply and let us know
what you decide to do and if you need me to research help in your area. By
the way, there are no newbie boundries, you asked all of the right questions,
just go get seen about asap.
Your friend, Angela ^i^
----- Original Message -----
From: Jaran
To: fighttogether@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, January 02, 2004 7:35 PM
Subject: [fight together] New to group and questions


Hello everyone! I was searching for a place where I could ask some
questions, and stumbled upon this group. I read some of the messages
and you all seem like very nice people, so I hope I'm not doing
something wrong by asking this here.

OK, here is my long winded question. I apologize in advance. :)
Last August, I noticed a weird growth on my upper right thigh. At the
time I didn't think anything about it because when I was younger I
had several abnormal moles removed, and nothing more was said about
it. For some reason, I just thought it would go away. By the time
October rolled around, it was twice the size, and black. It would
sometimes bleed and had a weird scab all around it. By Christmas, it
was much larger, would bleed often, and had begun to look strange.
It was blue and pink on the bottom, white and red on the sides with a
black crust on the top that was streaked with red. (I apologize, I
don't know how else to explain it.)

Yesterday, It grew again, but not in diameter, it is still roughly
the size of a dime, but it has gained height. So, I did some
research into skin disorders, and my uneducated conclusion led me to
believe that I might have some type of skin cancer. Also, I became
very frightened due to the fact that my armpits and neck have become
swollen and painful. In my research, I learned that melanoma when it
has spread goes directly to the lymph nodes. Therefore, I am rather
concerned.

Now, finally to my question. Should I go to the doctor and have this
checked out? The reason why I hesitate about going is that I have no
medical insurance. I am just a poor college student, and unable to
pay for even the slightest bit of medical help. So is there anything
I can do about this that doesn't involve going to the doctor?

Any information you could provide would be helpful. I admit that I
might be a little hasty in my self diagnosis, but am stumped at what
else it could be. Sorry again for the length of this post, and I
also apologize in advance if I have overstepped the newbie
boundaries, or what not. :) Thank you.

Take care!
Jaran



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