Hand

So, I know that it has been almost a month since I posted last. I honestly haven't been doing much worth talking about. I know that I keep mentioning my hand but I haven't really gone into detail about it yet. In January/February (yes, it's been that long) I noticed a dry itchy patch on my middle finger on my right hand. I figured it was dry skin and used a lot of lotion. It continued to get worse so I figured it was an allergy (contact dermatitis), so I changed all of our soaps, my lotion, etc. It continued to get worse, I tried Hydrocodone with no improvement. 

In March I had my first doctor appointment to address the issue. At this point my middle finger was HUGE and it has spread to almost all fingers and a spot on my wrist. I was told that it was a fungal infection and given Lamisil cream. The swelling went down a tiny bit and the rash seemed to clear up. Then I woke up on day and it had EXPLODED. It was 100000000x worse.

It was oozing, and quite nasty. My fingers were so swollen I couldn't make a fist and it was really painful.

I made another appointment to have it looked at again, by this point its April. I couldn't wait any longer and went to urgent care. The doctor there said that it was infected and I had eczema. So I was prescribed a very strong antibiotic and a steroid cream. I was thinking that I had found the miracle cure, it cleared up, although the swelling hadn't gone down but I figured that would come with time. I was instructed to use the cream for three weeks 3-4 times a day. I did exactly as I was told. Less than 24 hours after my last cream application it was back in full force.

So now we have made it to May, I am over this crap on my hand at this point. I have yet another doctor appointment with the first doctor. He agrees with the urgent care doctor that it's infected and some form of eczema. So another round of antibiotics and the same steroid cream., this time two weeks and 1-2 times a day. I saw very little improvement this time and called for a referral to a dermatologist.

Well this brings us almost up to date, I had my appointment with the dermatologist a week ago. He thinks it's contact dermatitis (which it what I thought it was in the beginning). So now I am on a super strong steroid cream. I am not convinced that this is the solution because I don't want to get my hopes up. My fingers are all a normal size for the first time in months and the rash is 95% taken care of. I go back in a week for a follow up. I will keep you all updated on what happens.

As you can imagine this has put a damper on my crafts, I do have fathers day cards and a birthday card as well as a vinyl sign for my kitchen to share with you but that will be another day as I feel that I have talked enough for this blog. Thanks for reading. I will be back in a few days to talk about craft projects

UPDATE 7/22/12:

Well, this crap is unfortunately still on my hand. I have been to the demonologist twice, he didn't really seem to know much. I have been putting cocoa butter and oatmeal lotion on it like a crazy person and it is keeping it at a comfortable place for the most part. If it flares back up I will be going back to the dermatologist office and talking to someone else.


UPDATE 10/13/12

Well, yesterday I finally got some answers. My dermatologist diagnosed me with Dyshydrotic Eczema. Unfortunately there isn't much that can be done for it. But at least now I know what it is, which is a relief.