So where does this begin?
    I suppose I could start with the finding on my right foot of an egregiousmole.Or perhaps the  time, at fourteen, i sat espying the beauties on the beach. Earning the brutal sun burn on my feet.they peeking out from the shadow, fried to a crisp, unnoted, 'til the blisters formed       No pictures taken, no note worth mentioning, just a mole like any other on my body. I don't know when i first noted it, but it seems around the time i bought red, platform mules..1999     That winter, after new years, a dark mole appeared on the offended foot I was perplexed. not worried, just wondering at the arrival of such an odd thing. It is realized, now, how stupid I was in not reacting swiftly to this dark messenger.
    so I let it slide and figured that it would be dealt with sometime when i wasn't so busy. that day was put off until that mole grew to twice it's size and my dear mother reminded me that my grand father and uncle had died of moles that spread to their brains. Melanoma. one of three skin cancers. the deadly one.

  Here we go again...free care of Cambridge is a simple idea. you walk into the clinic with a real medical problem, and they see that your health is taken care of. Then they ask, if you have any money ?  No, they ask that first. When you tell them you're a houseless working person, they  ask you to fill out some forms. First the medical information. easy if you've kept your mind clear, but stoned.... well let the torture begin. Do you tell them about the j you toked on the way in to get your nerves under control? do you tell em you know. Then the questions about the ways in which I keep the rain off my head and food in the belly. This is no easy task, as most of the information asked is answerable only if you have an abode with legal status. Gas bills, rent reciepts ....   "worry about that part later. The nurse will see you now. " 

    well, i at last consulted a nurse practitioner, at the Riverside Health Clinic in Cambridge. what a surprise. where i had been blasé', with not a care for it in the world, she says, "that's not supposed to be there. on your foot? you need to be seen ... now ... by our doctor." so into the next room for a cursory viewing by the doc. " that's in an odd place." back to wonderful caring nurse, who informs me that an appointment has been made with Cambridge  Hospital dermatology. She didn't even wait to ask if I were thinking that far ahead, just did it.
     A week later on a Tuesday I  was seeing a dermatologist, Dr. Trehan, at the Cambridge Hospital, who on seeing the mole says "that isn't suppose to be on your foot" and proceeded to tell me of the ramifications if i didn't get it seen to immediately. she proceeded, with her assistant, to take a sample for biopsy, from both portions of the mole. the old growth and new.        foot 2