I figured it out!

My burn is better and better. It's completely obvious that the problem was caused by the gauze. The question that was bothering me was, why did the doctor not realize that the gauze was going to cause the problem? He asked me to lie low this weekend, stop using gauze AND cut my activity level. It must be something to do with some activity I'm doing, he said. Clearly he had no idea, hadn't seen it happen before, so he figured, must be my level of activity, something none of his other patients do.

But as I biked home I knew it wasn't biking -- my arm is held well away from my side where the burn area is when I bike, and is held STILL, with my hands on the handlebars. Biking has got to be the kindest thing on the burn area just the way swimming is the hardest on it. (That's because chlorine is hard on the skin. It's getting better though -- I will swim again, maybe within the week. Still have those tegaderm bandages, and I know to take them off now, when I'm done swimming.)

Anyway, this afternoon I took the dog for a long walk -- hills for an hour. Afterwards I came home, came in, took off my sweaty shirt, patted the burn area dry, and put on more gel and a big shirt with room for the stuff to dry while I ate dinner. And I realized -- when I had the gauze on the sweat just collected. It wasn't enough that I could change the gauze without hurting my burn..... unless that was going to be my bath time. I did take a bath after the bike rides last Wednesday and Friday, and changed the gauze -- but I only did that (took a bath & changed the gauze) once in 24 hrs. I didn't take baths after every time I walked the dog, though.... even if I walked her for an hour, I didn't always get to take a bath til evening -- and I couldn't get the gauze off any other way......

It seems unlikely, especially given the high number of women in breast cancer treatment who start getting hot flashes on chemo.... but somehow I think my doctor isn't used to patients who do enough to sweat. (Weird, huh? What kinda life...... like a life without sex.....but I guess it takes all kinds!)