A few days ago, my two little boys ended up with itchy, bumpy rashes on their necks, backs, and chests. "Mommy, I'm itchy," they'd declare while scratching at their tender skin in search of relief. I did all I could to soothe my bothered boys. I lightly scratched their skin, soaked them in cool tubs of water, offered them Benadryl, and taught them how to gently pat their skin and not dig at it. Eventually, the itches went away -- thanks to the passage of time. And eventually, I learned that sunscreen was likely to blame for their skin irritations.

My boys are four and six. Slowly over the years, I have abandoned baby sunscreens and have lathered them with the same sunscreens I use -- the potions made for adult skin. They didn't seem like babies anymore so it seemed an appropriate transition. Most times, their skin fared well. This time, it did not.

While at my skin cancer screening appointment the other day, my dermatologist gave me something to think about. She told me the primary ingredients in sunscreen for children should be zinc or titanium oxide -- found primarily in baby sunscreen products. So no more grown-up lotions for my boys. I am now the proud owner of New! Banana Boat Baby SPF 50 UVA & UVB sunblock lotion. It's tear-free, sting-free, as mild as water, and reportedly waterproof too -- although some experts maintain waterproof is not really possible in the world of sunscreen. Water resistant, maybe; waterproof, no. Most important, though, is one of the active ingredients in my new tube of protective lotion: Titanium Dioxide.

The drug sildenafil, better known as Viagra has been shown in mice to support the immune system's response to cancer cells. Mice with colon and breast tumors showed that the tumor size decreased two and threefold when treated with sildenafil compared with the mice that did not receive the drug. The researchers also believe that they have evidence that sildenafil is effective on the immune system because in mice engineered to lack an immune system the tumors were unaffected. Tissue samples taken from head and neck cancer and multiple myeloma patients showed similar results.

Viagra is a class of drugs used to treat impotence. It is known to stimulate nitric oxide which hinder the effects of a specialized cell that can divert the immune system away from the tumor. The researchers are trying to figure out how cancer cells can avoid detection by the immune system. T-cells that mount the attack on cancer cells are manipulated by the cancer cells and prevent them from being seen by the immune system. Viagra can unmask the cancer cells and let the immune system recognize and attack them.

In the past year, I have had three severe skin reactions characterized by red, itchy, burning bumps that start on my chest and without fail climb over my shoulders and onto my back. They last for a few weeks, are irritated by the Florida heat, and have had no known cause -- until today when I visited my dermatologist for a skin cancer screening and briefed her on this bizarre condition that has kept me away from sunscreen and out of the swimming pool and in hiding from the sun. I have suspected that sunscreen, chlorine, the sun -- or some combination of the three -- have been my potential irritants. So I've been avoiding them altogether. But I learned today that the sunscreen and the chlorine are not to blame. That leaves the sun, which is the most likely culprit -- and only because I have received chemotherapy with one very toxic drug. Adriamycin.

My dermatologist told me about a phenomenon called UV Recall that is associated with Adriamycin. Apparently the toxicity of this drug, even though administered long ago, can be recalled, causing a reaction when the UV rays of the sun soak into my skin. Sunscreen may help, my doctor told me, but she cautioned me that it is just a screen -- it does not offer full protection. And she said the best suncreen option would include zinc oxide. I think for me, though, staying out of the sun is my best bet. It's not ideal -- it means I will remain on the fringe of the swimming pool, hiding in the shade, while my boys swim their little hearts out. And tropical vacations will be off my wish list. And I will seek outdoor fun mostly after the sun goes down. But this is okay -- I knew there were long-term side effects of chemotherapy drugs. I am just thankful for now that my heart has not been compromised -- a side effect of both Adriamycin and the drug Herceptin that I have also received. And it's also not a bad thing that the steps I must now take to prevent skin reactions are also the steps that protect me from skin cancer. So in some sort of round-about way, my inconvenient skin issues may just help me stay healthy. And that's just fine with me.