Dermatology

Kaitlyn has developed a skin rash on her face that seems to come and go with each chemo cycle. It appears to clear up when she is on steroids and then re-appears as the cycle comes to an end. The worst time being as she starts the next cycle. Her oncologist believed it to be some type of contact dermatitis, but it could also be scabies, a condition caused by mites that infest in the skin and cause irritation. Apparently this is a common side-effect of chemotherapy. Since her immune system is compromised, it cannot defend against the millions of parasites that live in our environment. Her oncologist did not want to make a diagnosis, so he referred her to a dermatologist.

The dermatologist scraped some skin cells off of Katie's face, but did not see any mites in the skin sample under the microscope. The diagnosis was, "it could be scabies or contact dermatitis." The dermatologist thinks that it may still be scabies even though she did not see any mites. She prescribed 2 topical creams, one for each diagnosis and we are now taking a "wait and see approach" to the whole thing.

I'm not sure how seeing the dermatologist was any better than having her oncologist diagnose the skin problem himself. He could have just prescribed the same things and saved us a trip to the dermatologist....sigh....