MY SKIN has always been my weakest organ—hives, rashes, welts, acne, and itchy skin in reaction to foods, animal dander, chemicals, bug bites, and toxic fumes. So when I noticed patches of dry, rough, red skin on my lower torso in my early 50s, I accepted them as yet another sign of being oily above the neck and dry below. As the patches grew in size and number, I slathered on myriad flavors of lotions. Since no physician remarked about them during exams, I assumed there was no need to be concerned. In late 1999, I saw a dermatologist for a wart and asked about the patches. She offhandedly said she could biopsy them. Unable to get more out of her, I decided it couldn’t be worth pursuing when she seemed so cavalier.

A year later, I visited another dermatologist about the same recurring wart (now gone). When I showed her my patches, she was straight with me, verbalizing her suspicion of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL)–mycosis fungoides (MF). She sensitively answered my questions, printed an article off the Web for me, and performed 2 biopsies. Her honesty, knowledge, and compassion told me I’d be in good hands.