Hot and Humid

July in Florida... Hot and humid. Tough for a “full figure” boy like me. I also suspect the heat exasperates my skin issues (associated with my CLL). I currently have skin eruptions on my neck, upper forehead, and ankles. They appear as a swelling, then a point that looks very much like a bug bite, then a draining of fluid...clear and sticky. Denise is tired of my other joke- about her not liking burnt toast- when someone sees the band-aid on my forehead.

The current eruptions can be easily covered by band-aids- so I can wear shorts...and actually seem to be on their way out...

Sometimes they are quite extensive- and cover my legs and arms... I have had twice now a skin eruption on the side of my cheek near my eye that causes a night or two in the hospital- to make sure my eyes are okay. I have been suffering with these skin eruptions for over five years. When I was working and at their worst- I would wrap my arms and legs in gauze and wear long sleeves and long pants- just what you want to do in the middle of July in Florida.

I have tried to determine what may cause it... diet- I stopped eating red meat (for awhile) and tried to go just organic... bugs? Florida is known for a few. Heat? I do seem to have an “episode” of eruptions when I get especially hot and sweaty---like raking the lawn. Maybe it is pollen. Don’t know. The head of Dermatology at Dartmouth, Moffitt, and Ohio State University have offered no solutions.

The Dermatology specialists have all chimed in on what to call it- folliculitis is the term most bandied about. Of course the remedies have been varied- one doctor told me to shower less, one told me to show more... many claimed there was no correlation to my CLL... It was not until I got a prescription from an Infectious Disease Doctor for daily antibiotics that “IT” seemed to be more manageable. I suspect the antibiotic’s that I take daily, the IVIG infusion once a month, and steroids have tamed them some. The eruptions now are not even close to the massive challenges I had prior to being diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocritic Leukemia.

Of that I can be thankful.