No Insurance, No Idea What To Do

[fishfrogdog]

I do not currently have insurance but suspect I may have skin cancer. My husband is a small business owner and is barely making any money, he's now looking for a job so that he can get us health insurance but that takes 90 days to kick in and I've been told that the sooner you're diagnosed the better so I don't know what to do. Due to an annuity my husband makes too much to qualify for medicaid, and not enough for us to independently purchase insurance. Does anyone think it's a good idea to wait until my husband can get health insurance through an employer? Does it at all up my chances of it possibly being cancer since my father has had cancer in the past (he was exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam) or would that be unrelated? I'm sorry if any of this sounds stupid, it's late at night here and I'm tired and worried out of my mind.

[Kermica]

Hi there and welcome. I am sorry you find yourself in this worrisome situation. It is probably not a great idea to wait 90 days to have whatever is causing you alarm to be evaluated. Have you contacted the American Cancer Soicety to se if there are any fre screenings available where you live? You could also try your County Health Department to see what services are available there.

I understand why you would want to wait, fiancially, of course. The risk is that, if whatever is happening were to be an aggresive form of Melanoma as opposed to a squamous cell or basal cell skin cancer you could be putting your life at risk by waiting for three months before having it seen and biopsied. I don't tell you that to make you afraid but rather to try and commnicate what could be at stake in your situation.

I wish I could provide you with more definitive information but really can't. I would suggest that you visit the Melanoma and other skin cancers forum here and read some of those posts, it may provide some insight to you that could be helpful. I wish you good luck with this and sincerely hope that whatever is on your skin is just a benign mole.

Good health,

kermica

[FreckledFace]

I am trying to find out the same thing. I am doing some research on grants that might be helpful to those trying to pay medical bills as I have a friend who had basal cell cancer removed and can't pay his medical bills. I think I have found some leads on some grants, I will post whatever I find that I think is legitimate when I find it.