The View From Dermatology

Yesterday morning, I went to see a dermatologist about the spot on my stump that Dr. Healey thought was a wart. The dermatologists at Sloan-Kettering are at an outpatient facility on 53rd Street between 3rd and Lexington Avenues, rather than the main facility that occupies the whole York/1st/67th/68th block. I got my pre-surgery MRIs at this same facility. Unlike then, I can actually walk now, so the original plan was to walk all the a way there, but a rainstorm forced a change of plans -- walk just to the main Sloan-Kettering facility, where there is a free shuttle that goes to the 53rd Street facility.

Darkened spot on my stump. Is it a pressure spot, like I first thought, or a wart?

The dermatologist I saw, Dr. Querfeld, began by examining the spot. Her take was that it is not a wart. Rather, it is a pressure spot that has crusted over as a result of occluded sweat glands. I received prescriptions for a couple of topical creams to soften the skin up. But that was not the end of things. From what happened next, I gathered that to a dermatologist at a cancer center, everyone who walks in the door is a potential melanoma patient. I received a full-body mole examination, with an assistant taking a couple of pictures to serve as references to compare against in the future, and a reminder to be ultra-vigilant with applying sunscreen. One of the medicines I have to take while on chemo -- bactrim, an antibiotic I have to take twice a day every weekend to prevent a form of pneumonia I could get while my immune system is weakened by chemo drugs -- makes me extra-sensitive to sunlight and prone to skin damage from ultraviolet rays. Then there's the issue of me missing most of my hair, most notably on my head which normally is protected by it. I've been wearing hats when I go outside and applying sunscreen, but Dr. Querfeld noted some signs of sun damage. So time to step up my game. However, I didn't have anything on me that looks like melanoma or potential melanoma, so that much is good. I'll be coming in again either a little after the end of chemo or around the time of my first post-chemo scans for a follow-up on the moles, and I'm guessing there will be more follow-ups. Not that I mind -- with melanoma something that needs to be caught early to ensure successful treatment, this will ensure I don't miss anything.

Energy-wise, I've felt close to normal today. After a good session at physical therapy, where I did a lot of walking without my cane, I feel ready to take on the world. Time to figure out something fun to do before I start my next round of chemo. Ideally, I'd go out and see places every day, but I also have some thesis work I need to get done. So little time when I feel good, so much to do... Story of my life during chemo!