Opinion on what to do please

recnac_grl
recnac_grl Member Posts: 38
edited March 2014 in Anal Cancer #1
Hello everyone,
First I want to say this is an excellent forum and I have learned a lot here. Thanks to all of you for that.
Second, I need everyone's input/opinion on something please. Approximately 2 plus years ago I had a hem'ectomy. Tissue from hemmy was sent to lab and came back with severe dysplasia, doc said level before "full blown cancer." At first she wante me to have the are re-excised, but it was so painful I asked to find out from the lab if there were clear margins first. She called me back later the next day and said there were clear margins so I did not have to have it re-excised after all, but wanted to check me every three months. I started to do this but lost my job and then my health insurance.
It's been over two years since I had that area checked and I'm always so worried the dysplasia (AINS I think she said highest grade)will come back and I'll get anal cancer without knowing it.
I have no clinic to go to,no doctor I can see. I am most always const. and still have hemmys plus tags. Is there anything I can look for on my own that may help me determine if something is up? Other than bleeding ? I have had zero bleeding, some pain and vague itching on occasion. I attribute this to the ongoing hemmys. What does everyone think about this? What would you do in my situation? I worry constantly about this. Am I worrying unnecessarily? Please advise, anything would be helpful at this point. BTW I am a bc survivor two plus years .
Thank you so much.
dottie

Comments

  • z
    z Member Posts: 1,414 Member
    #2
    Dottie
    Hi Dottie,

    First I'm sorry you had to be here. I think that you should go to a gastronologist, for an exam and biopsy, and tell them of your previous dsyplasia. Could you go back to the original dr that did the biopsy before? I am sorry about the job loss and no health insurance. Is there any way to contact social services to assist you with the expense of the dr visit? I think to make sure there is no problem there, you defintely need to have the area looked at. I wish you well, and let us know how your doing. Lori
  • mp327
    mp327 Member Posts: 4,440 Member
    #3
    Hi Dottie!
    I'm sorry for your circumstances, but I really think you need to be checked by a doctor, and hope you will not delay. Lori made a good suggestion about checking with a social service to see what assistance is available to you so that you can get appropriate medical care. This is too important to keep putting off! Please keep us posted.
  • recnac_grl
    recnac_grl Member Posts: 38
    #4
    mp327 said:

    Hi Dottie!
    I'm sorry for your circumstances, but I really think you need to be checked by a doctor, and hope you will not delay. Lori made a good suggestion about checking with a social service to see what assistance is available to you so that you can get appropriate medical care. This is too important to keep putting off! Please keep us posted.

    Hi girls
    I have checked with social services and they told me I would have to do what they call a "spenddown" which essentially is to pay $699 per month for every month I have medical treatment before they would pay anything. I cannot afford that. My hubby and I are on a fixted income. Do you know of anything I could watch out or look for myself? This is driving me crazy, and the worrying I do about it is making my hubby crazy.I can't help but to worry about it. I've had cancer once (breast) and now that I've had it, I feal I'll get it again, be it a different kind or whatever. BTW, I am 47 , I forget if I posted that.to I just don't know what to do. I really don't. It's not like I can go to urgent care with something like this as I am not bleeding or anything. Any other suggestions? Thank you so much, you guys are the best!
    Dottie
  • z
    z Member Posts: 1,414 Member
    #5
    recnac_grl said:

    Hi girls
    I have checked with social services and they told me I would have to do what they call a "spenddown" which essentially is to pay $699 per month for every month I have medical treatment before they would pay anything. I cannot afford that. My hubby and I are on a fixted income. Do you know of anything I could watch out or look for myself? This is driving me crazy, and the worrying I do about it is making my hubby crazy.I can't help but to worry about it. I've had cancer once (breast) and now that I've had it, I feal I'll get it again, be it a different kind or whatever. BTW, I am 47 , I forget if I posted that.to I just don't know what to do. I really don't. It's not like I can go to urgent care with something like this as I am not bleeding or anything. Any other suggestions? Thank you so much, you guys are the best!
    Dottie

    Dottie
    The only thing I can thing of to do is call you previous doctor, and ask if you could go on a payment plan. Or go to the er as they can not refuse you. If you have skin tags, hemis, and you really don't know if thats all thats going on and your scared, maybe you could explain that you are afraid you have cancer and don't know what else to do. They might be able to refer you or set you up a payment plan you could afford.

    Have you ever done a digital rectal exam on yourself to see what you feel. I have after treatment just to see what was there then I would have something to compare it to. You would need a safe lubricating gel, and be very careful not to irritate what is already there. I had a skin tag with my cancer. The skin tag is a result of the body putting up a defense. I believe you can get skin tags from any form of irritation, such as hemis. If you could alter your diet to help alleviate the hemis, and do not strain when you use the bathroom. Also, use a foot stool, to raise your feet off of the floor, while using the bathroom as that will take the strain off your colon, rectum, anus, as you evacuate, therefore helping the hemis to subside. I hope others will chime in to offer some suggestions. Lori
  • mp327
    mp327 Member Posts: 4,440 Member
    #6
    recnac_grl said:

    Hi girls
    I have checked with social services and they told me I would have to do what they call a "spenddown" which essentially is to pay $699 per month for every month I have medical treatment before they would pay anything. I cannot afford that. My hubby and I are on a fixted income. Do you know of anything I could watch out or look for myself? This is driving me crazy, and the worrying I do about it is making my hubby crazy.I can't help but to worry about it. I've had cancer once (breast) and now that I've had it, I feal I'll get it again, be it a different kind or whatever. BTW, I am 47 , I forget if I posted that.to I just don't know what to do. I really don't. It's not like I can go to urgent care with something like this as I am not bleeding or anything. Any other suggestions? Thank you so much, you guys are the best!
    Dottie

    Hi Dottie--
    I don't know if
    Hi Dottie--

    I don't know if they can help you or not, but I would suggest contacting your local American Cancer Society office and ask them what resources they might know of to help people in your situation. You are not sure you have cancer, but have had a pre-cancerous condition that needs to be followed up, not to mention you have a history of breast cancer. I used to work in a medical office and am somewhat familiar with spenddown. It really does stink that someone who cannot afford it is still expected to pay that much before coverage of any kind kicks in. If you can, begin with a doctor who you're already established with so you could avoid a new patient evaluation charge, which is much higher than a regular office visit. If you see a gynecologist or primary care doctor once a year or even less frequently, that would be a good place to start. Unless you are having rectal bleeding, I doubt that a visit to the ER is going to offer you anything except a referral to a specialist, which puts you right back to square one. I'm sorry I can't offer you much more than this in the way of suggestions.
  • recnac_grl
    recnac_grl Member Posts: 38
    #7
    mp327 said:

    Hi Dottie--
    I don't know if
    Hi Dottie--

    I don't know if they can help you or not, but I would suggest contacting your local American Cancer Society office and ask them what resources they might know of to help people in your situation. You are not sure you have cancer, but have had a pre-cancerous condition that needs to be followed up, not to mention you have a history of breast cancer. I used to work in a medical office and am somewhat familiar with spenddown. It really does stink that someone who cannot afford it is still expected to pay that much before coverage of any kind kicks in. If you can, begin with a doctor who you're already established with so you could avoid a new patient evaluation charge, which is much higher than a regular office visit. If you see a gynecologist or primary care doctor once a year or even less frequently, that would be a good place to start. Unless you are having rectal bleeding, I doubt that a visit to the ER is going to offer you anything except a referral to a specialist, which puts you right back to square one. I'm sorry I can't offer you much more than this in the way of suggestions.

    thank you
    thank you girls for your thoughts, care, and suggestions/advice. I think i'm going to call my colo/rectal surgeon today and ask what they might suggest I do, a payment plan might be just the thing to ask for. thanks alot. I'll let you guys know what they said. God bless.

    Dottie
  • recnac_grl
    recnac_grl Member Posts: 38
    #8
    recnac_grl said:

    thank you
    thank you girls for your thoughts, care, and suggestions/advice. I think i'm going to call my colo/rectal surgeon today and ask what they might suggest I do, a payment plan might be just the thing to ask for. thanks alot. I'll let you guys know what they said. God bless.

    Dottie

    Called my original surgeon
    who did my hem'ectomy. They do not do high resolution anoscopys(HRA), only an anoscopy (just the scope). I did ask for my pathology report to be mailed to me from my surgery, it was in December 2007 I found out, so longer ago than what I thought. I'm not sure what other test to ask for, as was always told to make sure to ask for HRA as the acid shows up any abnormalities. What other test do I ask for if they don't do that? I called two other colo-rectal surgeons and they don't do the HRA's either.I'm going to call my previous primary doc and ask her and call the american cancer society and will get back to you guys. thanks for everything.
    dottie
  • recnac_grl
    recnac_grl Member Posts: 38
    #9
    recnac_grl said:

    Called my original surgeon
    who did my hem'ectomy. They do not do high resolution anoscopys(HRA), only an anoscopy (just the scope). I did ask for my pathology report to be mailed to me from my surgery, it was in December 2007 I found out, so longer ago than what I thought. I'm not sure what other test to ask for, as was always told to make sure to ask for HRA as the acid shows up any abnormalities. What other test do I ask for if they don't do that? I called two other colo-rectal surgeons and they don't do the HRA's either.I'm going to call my previous primary doc and ask her and call the american cancer society and will get back to you guys. thanks for everything.
    dottie

    No physician I called...
    performs HRA, some did not even know what it was!! What other test can I ask for that would detect anal HSIL without surgery? Would a DRE be sufficient? I can't imagine that it would, but what do you think? What if DRE done and then anoscope but not with the high resloution additive? I dont' know where to turn to now...BTW I'm in Missouri, anyone else live in MO that would know where I could go? thanks again
    dottie

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