Hi everyone, my name is Stephanie Edwards. I turned 45 at the beginning of January and 14 days later I was diagnosed with Carcinoma EX Spiradenoma. This is a pretty rare form of skin cancer. I finally went back to the dermatologist once a cyst that I had developed became so painful that I could not even touch it. My dermatologist and I thought that the cyst was just a cyst. However, once the pathology report came back, it determined that it was more serious. I was immediately sent to an Oncologist who scheduled my surgery. At that point, I found out that my insurance was insufficient and that I would have to pay for the surgery myself out of pocket. Unfortunately, as a single parent, I do not have that type of money just lying around. I have tried to get financial assistance through the hospital but that has not come to fruition. The surgery that is required will not only remove the tumor, but they have to check the lymph nodes in the area to make sure that the cancer did not spread. I hate to be a person that asks for help but, this was completely unexpected and not something that I had time to prepare for. At this point, the mental and emotional stressors are beyond comprehensible but having a full-time job and a daughter still in school will not allow me to slow down. I am honestly just hoping to have the surgery soon so that I know what my next steps are for treatment.
