For various reasons I have been with Humana Gold Plus health insurance for the last three years. I mention this because it is the reason I couldn’t see my all time favorite dermatologist; his office doesn’t accept Humana.
So, six weeks ago I was referred to a dermatology clinic that does accept Humana. The diagnosis was that I have six skin cancers on my head, face and throat. The one on my throat is a squamous cell cancer; the rest are basal cell. The one on my head was very close to the site of a melanoma that was excised about five years ago so that was the one the surgeon elected to remove first. The difficulty was that four of his nurses/physicians assistants couldn’t find it. The surgeon located a “bump,” sliced it off, bandaged me and later declared “they got it all” and sent me home.
Now, I have to wait until December 14 before a nurse can verify the wound is healed properly before I can schedule the removal of the other skin cancers-----which will be done one per office visit with no guarantee the squamous cell will be next. Plus, because dermatology is done by a specialist, I have to fork out a $35.00 per visit co-pay. I ain’t happy about none of this but maybe I’m just old and cranky.
Does this sound like the normal process?