› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Medical Insurance… Finally!! Questions…..
- This topic has 18 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 3 months ago by
Swanee.
- Post
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- October 19, 2012 at 9:20 pm
Hello everyone. Just wanted to update my situation. Last year went through hell with melanoma and went through only 2-1/2 weeks of interferon due to high risk recurrence. About 2 months ago I noticed a BB sized bump under my skin on my forearm. It is now the size of a good marble. I've been kind of driving myself crazy wondering and not being able to see a doctor due to no medical insurance. I moved back to California and applied for assistance. I was initially denied because my unemployment was over the income limit by $130!! Since it was
Hello everyone. Just wanted to update my situation. Last year went through hell with melanoma and went through only 2-1/2 weeks of interferon due to high risk recurrence. About 2 months ago I noticed a BB sized bump under my skin on my forearm. It is now the size of a good marble. I've been kind of driving myself crazy wondering and not being able to see a doctor due to no medical insurance. I moved back to California and applied for assistance. I was initially denied because my unemployment was over the income limit by $130!! Since it was close I asked for a fair hearing due to medical need. I got a call this week and was told they approved me for 2 months of assistance. I only pay $12 per office/hospital visit. I was referred to my surgeon who took care of me last year and have an appointment for a biospy next Friday!! Yayyy!! He will most likely order a pet scan as well so I'll know where I stand instead of driving myself crazy with all the "what if's!!" I have only had one pet scan after my surgery since I haven't had medical insurance so this will be a doozy waiting for results!!
Question about under the skin biopsy…..When I stopped by my surgeons office they told me they may have to do an ultrasound and call in an orthopedic surgeon. I thought they just did a needle biopsy. Also how do they treat a sub q tumor if it comes back melanoma? Do they do a wide excision again? I have also been told this is stage IV since it's under the skin (if it is Melanoma). What happens if it comes back as a sub q tumor and I go to stage IV will I have to do chemo or radiation? I don't want to over react but I want to be prepared. Thanks for your help!! 🙂
Denise
- Replies
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- October 19, 2012 at 9:30 pm
Glad you got things worked out so you can have it looked at. It sounds like they are going to do a ultrasound guided needle biopsy.
Hoping the results are negative. Good luck!
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- October 19, 2012 at 10:12 pm
No, they will most likely give you a local and use the ultrasound to guide the needle to the right area and extract cells for the biopsy.
Hoping this is something else though.
My wife's brother actually had a cactus needle in his arm, and it grew like you stated and had to be removed surgically. It seemed like his body was trying to reject it as the area kept getting bigger and bigger. He did not even know it was a cactus needle until they removed it and showed it to him. In his case, it made sense since he had a lawn and landscaping business.
Again, still hoping for something else!
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- October 19, 2012 at 10:12 pm
No, they will most likely give you a local and use the ultrasound to guide the needle to the right area and extract cells for the biopsy.
Hoping this is something else though.
My wife's brother actually had a cactus needle in his arm, and it grew like you stated and had to be removed surgically. It seemed like his body was trying to reject it as the area kept getting bigger and bigger. He did not even know it was a cactus needle until they removed it and showed it to him. In his case, it made sense since he had a lawn and landscaping business.
Again, still hoping for something else!
-
- October 19, 2012 at 10:12 pm
No, they will most likely give you a local and use the ultrasound to guide the needle to the right area and extract cells for the biopsy.
Hoping this is something else though.
My wife's brother actually had a cactus needle in his arm, and it grew like you stated and had to be removed surgically. It seemed like his body was trying to reject it as the area kept getting bigger and bigger. He did not even know it was a cactus needle until they removed it and showed it to him. In his case, it made sense since he had a lawn and landscaping business.
Again, still hoping for something else!
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- October 19, 2012 at 9:49 pm
Good for you, Denise! I am very impressed with the way you handled the whole insurance thing. Good for you!
I understand your desire to be prepared in case this turns out to be a Stage IV tumor, but please try not to stress yourself needlessly. This is probably NOT a Stage IV. If it is, I suspect they will do the BRAF test when they biopsy your "marble". You will probably also want to get CT scans to determine if there are any other mets in your body. Once you have the BRAF and CT results, you and your oncologist can start to kick around some treatment ideas. And, of course, we will be here to offer whatever help and support we can. But remember, this is probably NOT Stage IV!
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- October 19, 2012 at 9:49 pm
Good for you, Denise! I am very impressed with the way you handled the whole insurance thing. Good for you!
I understand your desire to be prepared in case this turns out to be a Stage IV tumor, but please try not to stress yourself needlessly. This is probably NOT a Stage IV. If it is, I suspect they will do the BRAF test when they biopsy your "marble". You will probably also want to get CT scans to determine if there are any other mets in your body. Once you have the BRAF and CT results, you and your oncologist can start to kick around some treatment ideas. And, of course, we will be here to offer whatever help and support we can. But remember, this is probably NOT Stage IV!
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- October 19, 2012 at 9:49 pm
Good for you, Denise! I am very impressed with the way you handled the whole insurance thing. Good for you!
I understand your desire to be prepared in case this turns out to be a Stage IV tumor, but please try not to stress yourself needlessly. This is probably NOT a Stage IV. If it is, I suspect they will do the BRAF test when they biopsy your "marble". You will probably also want to get CT scans to determine if there are any other mets in your body. Once you have the BRAF and CT results, you and your oncologist can start to kick around some treatment ideas. And, of course, we will be here to offer whatever help and support we can. But remember, this is probably NOT Stage IV!
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- October 20, 2012 at 5:41 pm
Denise, I agree. Most of our worries will fall in the ditch before they get to us. I believe that for stage IV the cancer must travel from the point of origin, through the bloodstream, to at least one body organ. Mine went from the belly, to the ilium of my pelvis, to my lungs. I’m over two years now from date of discovery, and going strong on the BRAF/MEK trial sponsored by GSK. Make sure to have your BRAF tested and jump up and down if they say you are positive. Good luck to you and realize that we are on this road with you, so let us know how it goes, and what they find. This is a great time to have any stage Mel and that could never be said before now. -
- October 20, 2012 at 5:41 pm
Denise, I agree. Most of our worries will fall in the ditch before they get to us. I believe that for stage IV the cancer must travel from the point of origin, through the bloodstream, to at least one body organ. Mine went from the belly, to the ilium of my pelvis, to my lungs. I’m over two years now from date of discovery, and going strong on the BRAF/MEK trial sponsored by GSK. Make sure to have your BRAF tested and jump up and down if they say you are positive. Good luck to you and realize that we are on this road with you, so let us know how it goes, and what they find. This is a great time to have any stage Mel and that could never be said before now. -
- October 20, 2012 at 5:41 pm
Denise, I agree. Most of our worries will fall in the ditch before they get to us. I believe that for stage IV the cancer must travel from the point of origin, through the bloodstream, to at least one body organ. Mine went from the belly, to the ilium of my pelvis, to my lungs. I’m over two years now from date of discovery, and going strong on the BRAF/MEK trial sponsored by GSK. Make sure to have your BRAF tested and jump up and down if they say you are positive. Good luck to you and realize that we are on this road with you, so let us know how it goes, and what they find. This is a great time to have any stage Mel and that could never be said before now.
-
- November 5, 2012 at 4:35 am
Hi Denise,
I'm so sorry to see this post and hear that you were told that you have a recurrence. I saw your online post about 10/19 and thought to myself…..your story sounds so much like mine, I surely hope it doesn't turn out like mine! The similarity I recognized is the subcutaneous tumor and the description you gave of what it felt like when you first discovered it, exactly how I discovered mine too! Almost exactly one year prior, I had to have a biopsy done in my breast because of a mammogram that showed some suspicious calcifications. The biopsy came back as atypical and I was told it will have to be closely monitored every 3 months. Well….I had another mammogram 3 months later and nothing changed, so they said another mammogram in 6 months. In the meantime, I discovered this little BB size bump on my trunk! I went to the GP Dr. and asked about it and he said it was a dermato fibroma……. benign situation…sounds good to me! Well, it kept growing, so about 4 months later I thought I should go to dermatologist and get a 2nd opinion….she called it the same thing!! As it was growing and becoming increasingly uncomfortable I asked to have it removed…and so she did and…sent it to pathology…..and holy crap…it's melanoma…..and not 1st stage melanoma…..but stage 4 melanoma, but wait, I've never had any skin cancer let alone melanoma!!! This is my introduction to melanoma! After that, I had a PET/CT scan and they tell me I have 2 more tumors in my breast, right where they did the breast biopsy one year earlier!!
Since then, I have tried various treatments and have had surgeries after the treatment doesn't seem to be working. I have had a total of 15 subcutaneous tumors removed/7 surgeries and I am now looking at a TIL therapy. No one knows how their disease is going to progress so it is always easier to look back and think about how you might have handled it knowing what you know now! Everything I have learned on this board is…..NEVER LOOK BACK! We all make the decisions based on the information we have and right or wrong, good or bad…..we do our best with what we have…so please know, we are all coming from the BASE place and building from there! Yes, many of us would probably make different choices knowing what we learn along the way….but that's not the way it goes, we are only looking forward!
I did look into naturopathic treatments and went to Dr. Jonathan V. Wright (world renowned) clinic in Renton, WA. They were very gracious and put me through all of their regiments but in the end they told me I would probably not survive this cancer without the latest Western medicine……without it I would surely succome. I thought that was a pretty strong statement coming from a naturopathic doctor as they are pretty defiant in their ability to defend their methods of treatment.
However, I have taken on a very holistic, naturopathic type lifestyle. But trust me……I still love my wine, red meat and french fries!!! My husband and I have drastically changed our diet, but still eat the foods we love….just a whole lot less of them and eat way more veggies and use way more good oils in our diet. I also follow a diet called Budwig diet, as best I can, which uses a lot of flax oil. Now I don't follow this diet to the T… but I do get my 3 tablesoons of flax oil daily. This is a lot of flax oil, the actual diet asks you to use 6-8 tablespoons daily, which I don't do. A friend told me about this diet and showed me how to use it daily and it did make a big difference in my skin health, as I have very dry skin. I don't know if this has slowed the disease down but I do know without a doubt it, has changed my skin for the better…..no longer dry!! And since I suffer from a skin cancer and my skin seems to be in better shape, I feel it is helping me. I too, am from Scandanavian descent (blonde, blue eyes) and suffered sunburns in my early years, I always burned and burned on top of tan! I think there is something to this!
This is a lot of information Denise and please feel free to contact me anytime…my email is lindaeirich@hotmail.com.
I remember when I found out about this, no warning, out of the blue and stage 4……..and still to this day, I do not have any suspicious moles or freckles and my dermatologist says it's pretty strange to be diagnosed this stage without any previous incident or warning…….oh well……..life happens!
This board is amazing however, and you will find much strength and information here. Please don't hesitate to contact me. I check in with this board now and then but for the most part I'm out living ! My doctor told me that the average melanoma patient at my stage has 6 months to 5 years, so I figure I have A LOT …of living to do to fit into 5 years!! And while I am feeling good I am going to cram as much life in as I possibly can and that's what I have been doing! The treatments can take a lot out of you and it's a slippery slope of keeping tumors for monitoring their treatments or just having them removed (subcutaneous) and doing nothing. Looking back, with what I know now……I wish I would have had the tumors removed as soon as they were discovered as they would have been so easy to remove! I left them in , did treatment that didn't work for me …..and then had to have them removed and it was much more invasive. I feel they are making such strides in melanoma treatment, the longer you can wait the more they will know, and the more effective the treatments will be…….but that is all HINDSIGHT!! AND ….no one knows how much time they have!
I wish you the very best in fighting this battle, you are not alone and we are all here to help you! There is so much out there and we are so blessed and lucky to be living with this disease now as our chances of survival are so much better than they ever use to be. Try not to panic, read as much as you can and ask as many questions too and above all else …………LIVE everyday to the best of your ability!
Take care and God Bless you Denise as you find your way through this melanoma maze!
Swanee
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- November 5, 2012 at 4:35 am
Hi Denise,
I'm so sorry to see this post and hear that you were told that you have a recurrence. I saw your online post about 10/19 and thought to myself…..your story sounds so much like mine, I surely hope it doesn't turn out like mine! The similarity I recognized is the subcutaneous tumor and the description you gave of what it felt like when you first discovered it, exactly how I discovered mine too! Almost exactly one year prior, I had to have a biopsy done in my breast because of a mammogram that showed some suspicious calcifications. The biopsy came back as atypical and I was told it will have to be closely monitored every 3 months. Well….I had another mammogram 3 months later and nothing changed, so they said another mammogram in 6 months. In the meantime, I discovered this little BB size bump on my trunk! I went to the GP Dr. and asked about it and he said it was a dermato fibroma……. benign situation…sounds good to me! Well, it kept growing, so about 4 months later I thought I should go to dermatologist and get a 2nd opinion….she called it the same thing!! As it was growing and becoming increasingly uncomfortable I asked to have it removed…and so she did and…sent it to pathology…..and holy crap…it's melanoma…..and not 1st stage melanoma…..but stage 4 melanoma, but wait, I've never had any skin cancer let alone melanoma!!! This is my introduction to melanoma! After that, I had a PET/CT scan and they tell me I have 2 more tumors in my breast, right where they did the breast biopsy one year earlier!!
Since then, I have tried various treatments and have had surgeries after the treatment doesn't seem to be working. I have had a total of 15 subcutaneous tumors removed/7 surgeries and I am now looking at a TIL therapy. No one knows how their disease is going to progress so it is always easier to look back and think about how you might have handled it knowing what you know now! Everything I have learned on this board is…..NEVER LOOK BACK! We all make the decisions based on the information we have and right or wrong, good or bad…..we do our best with what we have…so please know, we are all coming from the BASE place and building from there! Yes, many of us would probably make different choices knowing what we learn along the way….but that's not the way it goes, we are only looking forward!
I did look into naturopathic treatments and went to Dr. Jonathan V. Wright (world renowned) clinic in Renton, WA. They were very gracious and put me through all of their regiments but in the end they told me I would probably not survive this cancer without the latest Western medicine……without it I would surely succome. I thought that was a pretty strong statement coming from a naturopathic doctor as they are pretty defiant in their ability to defend their methods of treatment.
However, I have taken on a very holistic, naturopathic type lifestyle. But trust me……I still love my wine, red meat and french fries!!! My husband and I have drastically changed our diet, but still eat the foods we love….just a whole lot less of them and eat way more veggies and use way more good oils in our diet. I also follow a diet called Budwig diet, as best I can, which uses a lot of flax oil. Now I don't follow this diet to the T… but I do get my 3 tablesoons of flax oil daily. This is a lot of flax oil, the actual diet asks you to use 6-8 tablespoons daily, which I don't do. A friend told me about this diet and showed me how to use it daily and it did make a big difference in my skin health, as I have very dry skin. I don't know if this has slowed the disease down but I do know without a doubt it, has changed my skin for the better…..no longer dry!! And since I suffer from a skin cancer and my skin seems to be in better shape, I feel it is helping me. I too, am from Scandanavian descent (blonde, blue eyes) and suffered sunburns in my early years, I always burned and burned on top of tan! I think there is something to this!
This is a lot of information Denise and please feel free to contact me anytime…my email is lindaeirich@hotmail.com.
I remember when I found out about this, no warning, out of the blue and stage 4……..and still to this day, I do not have any suspicious moles or freckles and my dermatologist says it's pretty strange to be diagnosed this stage without any previous incident or warning…….oh well……..life happens!
This board is amazing however, and you will find much strength and information here. Please don't hesitate to contact me. I check in with this board now and then but for the most part I'm out living ! My doctor told me that the average melanoma patient at my stage has 6 months to 5 years, so I figure I have A LOT …of living to do to fit into 5 years!! And while I am feeling good I am going to cram as much life in as I possibly can and that's what I have been doing! The treatments can take a lot out of you and it's a slippery slope of keeping tumors for monitoring their treatments or just having them removed (subcutaneous) and doing nothing. Looking back, with what I know now……I wish I would have had the tumors removed as soon as they were discovered as they would have been so easy to remove! I left them in , did treatment that didn't work for me …..and then had to have them removed and it was much more invasive. I feel they are making such strides in melanoma treatment, the longer you can wait the more they will know, and the more effective the treatments will be…….but that is all HINDSIGHT!! AND ….no one knows how much time they have!
I wish you the very best in fighting this battle, you are not alone and we are all here to help you! There is so much out there and we are so blessed and lucky to be living with this disease now as our chances of survival are so much better than they ever use to be. Try not to panic, read as much as you can and ask as many questions too and above all else …………LIVE everyday to the best of your ability!
Take care and God Bless you Denise as you find your way through this melanoma maze!
Swanee
-
- November 5, 2012 at 4:35 am
Hi Denise,
I'm so sorry to see this post and hear that you were told that you have a recurrence. I saw your online post about 10/19 and thought to myself…..your story sounds so much like mine, I surely hope it doesn't turn out like mine! The similarity I recognized is the subcutaneous tumor and the description you gave of what it felt like when you first discovered it, exactly how I discovered mine too! Almost exactly one year prior, I had to have a biopsy done in my breast because of a mammogram that showed some suspicious calcifications. The biopsy came back as atypical and I was told it will have to be closely monitored every 3 months. Well….I had another mammogram 3 months later and nothing changed, so they said another mammogram in 6 months. In the meantime, I discovered this little BB size bump on my trunk! I went to the GP Dr. and asked about it and he said it was a dermato fibroma……. benign situation…sounds good to me! Well, it kept growing, so about 4 months later I thought I should go to dermatologist and get a 2nd opinion….she called it the same thing!! As it was growing and becoming increasingly uncomfortable I asked to have it removed…and so she did and…sent it to pathology…..and holy crap…it's melanoma…..and not 1st stage melanoma…..but stage 4 melanoma, but wait, I've never had any skin cancer let alone melanoma!!! This is my introduction to melanoma! After that, I had a PET/CT scan and they tell me I have 2 more tumors in my breast, right where they did the breast biopsy one year earlier!!
Since then, I have tried various treatments and have had surgeries after the treatment doesn't seem to be working. I have had a total of 15 subcutaneous tumors removed/7 surgeries and I am now looking at a TIL therapy. No one knows how their disease is going to progress so it is always easier to look back and think about how you might have handled it knowing what you know now! Everything I have learned on this board is…..NEVER LOOK BACK! We all make the decisions based on the information we have and right or wrong, good or bad…..we do our best with what we have…so please know, we are all coming from the BASE place and building from there! Yes, many of us would probably make different choices knowing what we learn along the way….but that's not the way it goes, we are only looking forward!
I did look into naturopathic treatments and went to Dr. Jonathan V. Wright (world renowned) clinic in Renton, WA. They were very gracious and put me through all of their regiments but in the end they told me I would probably not survive this cancer without the latest Western medicine……without it I would surely succome. I thought that was a pretty strong statement coming from a naturopathic doctor as they are pretty defiant in their ability to defend their methods of treatment.
However, I have taken on a very holistic, naturopathic type lifestyle. But trust me……I still love my wine, red meat and french fries!!! My husband and I have drastically changed our diet, but still eat the foods we love….just a whole lot less of them and eat way more veggies and use way more good oils in our diet. I also follow a diet called Budwig diet, as best I can, which uses a lot of flax oil. Now I don't follow this diet to the T… but I do get my 3 tablesoons of flax oil daily. This is a lot of flax oil, the actual diet asks you to use 6-8 tablespoons daily, which I don't do. A friend told me about this diet and showed me how to use it daily and it did make a big difference in my skin health, as I have very dry skin. I don't know if this has slowed the disease down but I do know without a doubt it, has changed my skin for the better…..no longer dry!! And since I suffer from a skin cancer and my skin seems to be in better shape, I feel it is helping me. I too, am from Scandanavian descent (blonde, blue eyes) and suffered sunburns in my early years, I always burned and burned on top of tan! I think there is something to this!
This is a lot of information Denise and please feel free to contact me anytime…my email is lindaeirich@hotmail.com.
I remember when I found out about this, no warning, out of the blue and stage 4……..and still to this day, I do not have any suspicious moles or freckles and my dermatologist says it's pretty strange to be diagnosed this stage without any previous incident or warning…….oh well……..life happens!
This board is amazing however, and you will find much strength and information here. Please don't hesitate to contact me. I check in with this board now and then but for the most part I'm out living ! My doctor told me that the average melanoma patient at my stage has 6 months to 5 years, so I figure I have A LOT …of living to do to fit into 5 years!! And while I am feeling good I am going to cram as much life in as I possibly can and that's what I have been doing! The treatments can take a lot out of you and it's a slippery slope of keeping tumors for monitoring their treatments or just having them removed (subcutaneous) and doing nothing. Looking back, with what I know now……I wish I would have had the tumors removed as soon as they were discovered as they would have been so easy to remove! I left them in , did treatment that didn't work for me …..and then had to have them removed and it was much more invasive. I feel they are making such strides in melanoma treatment, the longer you can wait the more they will know, and the more effective the treatments will be…….but that is all HINDSIGHT!! AND ….no one knows how much time they have!
I wish you the very best in fighting this battle, you are not alone and we are all here to help you! There is so much out there and we are so blessed and lucky to be living with this disease now as our chances of survival are so much better than they ever use to be. Try not to panic, read as much as you can and ask as many questions too and above all else …………LIVE everyday to the best of your ability!
Take care and God Bless you Denise as you find your way through this melanoma maze!
Swanee
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