I have an infected ankle (but it is getting better)

I had a bug bite, or something, that seemed like it was getting worse. Two days ago, I had some pain walking in the morning, and I tried to lance it that evening, but only got some watery blood… no puss.

I lanced myself, but only got blood

And yesterday morning I woke up just after 8am from a dream in which I broke my ankle. And my ankle was throbbing in pain. I felt absolutely terrible. I got up to go to the bathroom and take some tylenol/advil and i could barely walk. really. i couldn’t put any weight on the bad ankle. I was a mess. When 9am hit, O called my dermatologist for me (I have an appointment on monday anyway…) and they told me my dr wasn’t in, but to just come in and one of the doctors would see me. We ended up taking a car in for an inspection.

When I got there, the doctor looked at O and me and joked “You two sure look like you’ve had a rough night.” Later, when she realized I was on IFN, and had been for a year, she apologized profusely. I told her its good to get a reality check sometimes…

She pushed on the welt/bite, and decided that there was no pustule (which I think I had already proven the night before.) Put some topical antibiotic on it. And gave me a prescription for antibiotics. I spent all of yesterday and most of today in bed with my foot elevated. I’m just now starting to feel a little bit better. I can walk around a bit without intense pain.

getting better

I think it got so bad overnight because I injected that night. That injection caused my immune system to temporarily dip even further below its already immunosuppressed state.

Lying in bed for the last two days is all too familiar. Last spring I spent 6 weeks lying in bed while recovering from my surgeries. It was a little offputting to realize I was back in the same place. Thought I knew it was only temporary.

Likewise, me telling the dermatologist that I had been on IFN for a year made me realize that, in fact, I started my interferon June 16, so in ten days, I actually will have been on the drug for a year.

New Melanoma Drug

This is for patients in a *much* more advanced stage than myself. But is good news in general. From the BBC:

PLX4032 works by seeking out and destroying tumour cells carrying the BRAF mutation implicated in 60% malignant melanomas.

This could not only help to shrink the skin cancer, but also delay its spread.

Currently, only a small proportion of people – less than 5% – live more than two years if their cancer has spread around the body.

Early findings

In a phase I study involving 16 patients with BRAF-positive melanoma, over half saw the extent of their cancer reduce by at least 30%.

Patients treated with PLX4032 lived for a median of six months without their disease getting worse and more than half experienced significant shrinkage of their tumours.

This included patients where the cancer had spread to the liver, lung and bone.