December 17, 2004 Eczema! Excellent.

The next skin step was for the doctor to take a biopsy which she did off of my thigh. That came back this week. It was to have either shown up as eczema, an allergy, cutaneous lymphoma, or none of the above. Since it came back showing signs of eczema, she put me on a steroidal eczema medicine. If that does not work, they will do up to two more biopsies to see if could be cutaneous lymphoma. Apparently this is an indolent thing that requires three biopsies to confirm the diagnosis because some spots will show it in a biopsy but some won't. It can take months if not years to diagnose and is very much a waiting game while other skin disorders are ruled out. If it does end up being cutaneous lymphoma (which she said is more common in men, African Americans, and the elderly, but that anyone of any age can get it) then it is first treated topically and by light therapy. She said it is not systemic in the early stage, which sounds to me like a good thing. Destroying my stupid doubt in her abilities based on her age was the plaque on the wall awarding her the recognition of being first in her class at med school. I guess they don't hire any slouches at this clinic. She also said that when the potential fungus shows no growth (meaning it's not a fungus), a biopsy is always the next step but she doesn't tell people that on the first visit because they sometimes will wig out and worry for nothing. So she said I was not totally off the mark with my cutaneous lymphoma research because it is part of the diagnosis search in things like this but that she doesn't think that is what it is, although she did say it was unusual but not impossible for eczema to be in all of the random places this dry red skin is on me. That is all for now. I did tons of research last week right after the biopsy, broke down crying, called the nurse, and was ordered not to do any more googling until we got results. Meanwhile, I'm applying this medicine very lightly in the hopes that it does not sink into my skin and give me chest hair. ::: About this time in ... 2003 12/17: She seemed so shy and demure all night and suddenly she was writhing on the floor and her dad said drolly, "Clearly she's hoping for a pole for Christmas." 2000 12/17: I also let out a muffled cry of happiness when I realized that Herr Ludwig was being played by Martin Moran, who played McBride in Titanic, a show I loved pretty much only for him and Brian D'Arcy James. 12/16: Isabel: "I would like to bear 73 of Paul Thomas Anderson's children in succession." 1999 12/16: The trip to New York junior year to sing Mozart -- in Carnegie Hall with a choir from Japan. It was my first trip to that city -- and I owe that to him. get notified. journal archives © Copyright 2004 elb