I'm a little freaked

[HunnyBun 2]

A few days ago I saw something growing on my face. It first looked like tiny red patch but over the last few days turned a bit bigger, darker and uglier. I've been applying rash cream but nothing. It's just getting larger.

I looked online to see what skin cancer looks like and it kind of resembles what I saw.

I called a dermatologist that accepts my insurance and they told me the doctor is booked through the end of June and is going on vacation after that. I told her that I have something growing on my face and was looking to come in as an emergency patient, and she answered 'You'll just have to go to your family doctor'.

Well, I don't have one right now. I dont have a dermatologist, I don't have a family doctor, and I don't know what to do.

I can't find another dermatologist nearby that accepts my insurance.

I don't want to go to the ER in case it's nothing. Isn't it a bit silly to go to the hospital because of a little something on my face? I don't want to look stupid and waste their time.

What would you do? Give it a week to see what happens? Go to the ER? Wait til my dermatologist is back from vacation? Find a new family doctor?

I'm just so stressed out, I don't know what to do, I can barely fall asleep from the worry.

[3loves 0]

I don't know about you, but waiting is not my thing. Do you have an urgent care facility in your area? Some people use them as their PCP. I don't think I would wait that long to get into the dermatologist. It is probably nothing, but it's better to know than later. Good luck!!

[Stitchy 0]

If this is growing rapidly, I say find another dermatologist. IF there is one in a nearby town, go! Be self pay if necessary. Find a new family doctor. There are urgent care facilities popping up all over the country. See if you can find one. If all else fails, go to the ER. I'm not sure what they can do for you though since it's not a fix the bone/cut/trauma kind of emergency.

I don't think this is something to mess around with. The sister of a friend was putting sun tan lotion on her brother's back. She found a nasty looking mole and insisted he go to the doc. The doc said melanoma. Another two weeks and nothing could be done. Point is, don't wait, even if you have to pay yourself.

Good luck

[Alexandra 55]

Call your insurer and ask them for a referral to a dermatologist or a primary care doc. If there REALLY are none in your area, ask THEM what you should do. You have an urgent medical reason for needing to see one, and if they can't set you up they should be willing to cover the cost of one that's out of network.

No carrier wants to be put in the position of telling someone they can't have medical care: that way lies big lawsuits. But if you go to an urgent care facility or get care before talking with them, they have no reason to cover any claims you might submit. So call member services and see what their advice is.

But get it looked at!

[Stitchy 0]

Alexandra has good advice. If you call your insurer, get the name of the person you talked to, the date and time of your call. Every time you talk to them.

[HunnyBun 2]

My insurance is provided by the state so they dont play coverage games, they will pay for hospital and urgent care without worry, the problem lies with finding a doctor that accepts state insurance.

[Alexandra 55]

But will they consider a facial blemish--however suspicious it is--to need emergency or "urgent" care? I can't imagine they'd pay for someone to go to the ER with a headache, for example. You have to find the appropriate care provider for the issue, and for this issue it probably is a primary-care doctor. If it's NOT cancer, he'll be able to tell you that and set your mind at ease. If he's suspicious, that's the time to beat the bushes for a dermatologist.

Go see a PCP, ASAP. KWIM? :confused:

[HunnyBun 2]

If my understanding of a blemish is correct, this is not a blemish. It looks more like a round patch, rasied red ring on the outside, ugly yellow wet infected looking inside, about the size of a dime.

I may be just over reacting, I'm always just a tad paranoid when it comes to health issues.

[Chris S. - L.I. 0]

Go to an Ungent Care Facility that accepts your insurance and go from there. Get an opinion at least. I don't think this qualifies as something to go to the ER.

[GayleTX 1]

Hunny, if you don't have a family doctor or gynecologist, you need to find one....... for lots of reasons in the future,not just this one.

How far are you from the next town? Do you have transportation to get there? I live in a rural area, and there are transportation vans that will take state insurance patients to wherever they need to go to see a doctor.

You are very young but everyone needs a doctor that knows their name. It goes a long ways in getting an office to 'work you in' for such as this.

Don't mean to be 'playing mama' and certainly don't mean to be condescending, hun....just the mama and old schoolteacher coming out in me. I want life to be easier for you!! Everybody needs a support system. Now is a good time for you to be building one.

[Victoriana 10]

Dear heart, when you said it was about a half a inch, with wet yellow center, this can be staff infection. and it grew so fast. Go to the ER. and Please get it looked at by a DR. Just earlier this year, my DH had a sore elbow. No bruise, one day later the Dr gave antibiotics, 2days later high fever and larger bump, 3 days later and ER, Lanced, drained, iv antibiotics. 4 days later, surgery to remove his Bursa's and about a 2 1/2 inch incision that had to be repacked daily for 3 months to heal from the inside out. He was in isolation for 10 days, IVs and very close monitoring of his temperature. They cultured it and found it to be a particular staff infection. Never a cut or poke to break the skin on his elbow, It just appeared deep inside. Do not mess around with this. There are some very virulent flesh eating bacteria. no joke, I'm not trying to terrify you, honest but please, please, get this looked at ASAP!

[HunnyBun 2]

Thank you very much for the help. I woke up this morning to see that this thing has kind of dried! Now it looks almost like a light color scab. Not the usualy dark red one. It definately didn't get bigger or worse. I did take benadril last night to help me fall asleep, maybe that helped heal the thing.

I did get a new puppy a couple weeks ago and she does lick my face a lot. I'm hoping it's just an alergic reaction.

My mom decided to inspect my body to see if I got any more of these things and turns out I have 4 more small crusty bumps on my shoulder, arm, and back.

I'm gonna find a family doc today and make an appointment for tomorrow.

Thank you all so much for taking time to respond. It gives a great deal of comfort to have someone to talk to, even if it's just online.

[Marimaru 7]

I was gonna say to find a family doc, but you already said you were going to. Please let us know what you find out!

[vinesqueen 2]

Oh ((((hunny)))))! I have no idea what this could be, but please keep us informed!

[Valentinebaby 0]

Maybe it's a fungus,like what my grandmom use to call ring worm. Until you get medical attention I would make sure to wash hands after touching and keep it covered with a bandaid to prevent spreading.Hope everything works out okay