Attitude Adjustment (Message 12 of 21)

Out wig shopping 4/25. The scarf hides/protects the sunburn!

27 April 2011
Hi there...

Wow! Summer really just *happened* all of a sudden, didn't it? Looking at the weather guessing, I can see that we are in for some slightly cooler & rainy days coming right up, but these past few have been June-ish. It's exciting! Dave & the guys got the screens on the porch up! Yay! I'm loving this summer already, especially knowing that we FINALLY have central air. Aaahhhhhh....

Warm, humid weather suits me more now than in days gone by, and now * especially* since I am sporting a new (though temporary) short-short haircut. If not  for the fact that I got a pretty severe sunburn in Boston, I would be spending all of my non-working hours enjoying the great outside.

But there lies the painful rub. This ridiculous sunburn, which was certainly destined to blister & peel, has morphed into "sun poisoning," and landed me back at the oncologist's office today for evaluation. What we have concluded is that I have had a rare allergic reaction to the sun, complements of chemotherapy. A certain level of photosensitivity is quite common and you probably were already aware of the cancer patient's need to watch the sun exposure. In my case, there was a reaction to *already-existing* sun damage. Dr. Mintzer has not seen this before, but since my rash is confined to areas that were sunburned, this is his conclusion. If I were allergic to either of my chemo drugs, the rash would be everywhere, not just on freshly sun-damaged skin. There are two implication to this:

1) Certainly I should avoid sunburn, which I already knew. I blew it at Boston, but neither of us knew that any bad behavior prior to my first treatment would be an issue.

2) I should actually avoid the sun in general. Not only will I burn more easily, but I will break out in this debilitating rash anyplace that even glances at the sun. Unless I am perfecto with the sunscreen, I can expect pain & suffering after a day of fun in the sun.

Here's what has happened. The skin with the worst of the sunburn broke out in a rash first. That was on my right shoulder. After a couple of days, it reached its painful peak and my neck & chest began to break out. Now, two days later, the neck & chest are at their worst and the shoulder is free of the rash, though still painful obviously, until it goes through the whole peeling & healing thing. And now my right forearm and the back of one leg is breaking out. These areas were only slightly pink after the marathon. I would not have included those two areas in my inventory of "Boston sunburn" until now. 

The only question left is why didn't my face break out? As I knock on wood and appreciate my luck, I can only imagine how horrible it would have been to have eyes swollen shut and a painful mouth on top of everything else. In fact (still knocking on wood here), if not for the sun, I would say chemotherapy is awesome for the complexion improvements! My face is smoother than ever! 

So, I've had to adjust my attitude again. I was devastated to realize yesterday that everything I love to do in the summer is just going to have to take a year off. As usual, after wallowing in self-pity for a few hours, I have a new plan. I'll have to turn up the a/c and get those winter projects done.

Love,

Diane