I need help

Hi SamuelCW and a very warm welcome to the online community which I hope you'll find is both an informative and supportive place to be.

I'm sorry to read that you were diagnosed with melanoma at such a young age and it's natural to be thinking about it more now that you have a child on the way.

I don't know if you're still under a consultant, as more than 5 years have passed since your original diagnosis, but if you are, have you spoken to your SCNS about the dark spots that you're worried about and the fact that some of your lymph nodes hurt?

I haven't spoken to anyone about it since I got my diagnostic. I've been waiting quietly to die. I had a change of heart. Just my immediate family know about the diagnostic, and my wife. I also have heart and lung disease so if this doesn't kill me something will. I'm so fucked up right now emotionally. 

Please get on the phone to your SCNS first thing tomorrow morning so that she can arrange for you to get the dark spots looked at. They may be completely harmless but it's better to be sure.

Do come back and let me know how you get on.

Did you have any follow up treatment after your diagnosis or have you just been on skin check ups?

Once I received my diagnosis I never went back. 

If you chose not to have follow up care then you might not have a SCNS. In which case you'll need to make an appointment with your GP and they'll refer you back to dermatology if they feel it's necessary.

I don't even have a doctor. I don't even live in the same state anymore. They definitely will want to do something about it when they see it. Going on 7 years of letting it go, I'm not sure they can do anything about it. 

The first thing you need to do is to enroll with a local doctor and then make an appointment to have the areas you're worried about looked at.

I'm presuming that you live in America as you mention that you don't live in the same 'state' anymore. The Macmillan Online Community is a UK based charity, so we might not have the same way of obtaining treatment here as you do, but we all understand how stressful having a cancer diagnosis is.

Please do go and see a doctor

Thank you, love from here to the UK. 

Samuel, if you are in the US, then go to the nearest ER today. They will assess you and get the ball rolling as to treatment options. You will not be turned away regardless of your state of residence or your ability to pay.  Be upfront with the ER doctor and tell him/her of your history. Many trials/treatment programs are available even if you think that you can't afford treatment. You will be informed of these as you proceed through the treatment process, but YOU have to initiate the process by going to the ER.

Advancements in melanoma care have proceeded by leaps and bounds since your initial diagnosis and you should not consider the situation to be hopeless. You are young and should be willing to fight for your wife, your unborn child and yourself. You're worth it.

Hi SamuelCW 

I just wanted to see how you were and to see if you followed Dave11's advice about how to navigate the health system.