In My Skin (standard:non fiction, 2337 words)
Author: MandyPants	Added: Dec 02 2004	Views/Reads: 3445/2370	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A story of my life as a young lady with spots.

Hi, my name is Mandy. I am soon to be twenty eight years old. I have
been living with psoriasis for six years. I want to start by quickly 
explaining what psoriasis is, to those of you who do not already know. 

Psoriasis is an inflammatory skin disease. It is recognized by patches
of red, scaly marks on a persons skin. My body produces skin cells at 
an above normal rate. The average person sheds and regenerates their 
skin cells every 30 or so days. My cells are producing at a much faster 
rate, about every 2 or so days. Thus, they build on top of themselves 
and become clearly visible patches. 

When you injure yourself by way of a cut to the skin, your body sends
signals to itself to create more skin cells to cover the wound. My body 
is sending these signals, all of the time, but I have no cut. No one 
knows why my body is doing this. Doctors do not know what causes 
psoriasis, therefore they can not cure it. They know that it is a life 
long disease, that could potentially be hereditary. 

One night as I was undressing for bed I noticed what looked like a rash
on my body. It was not at this point scaly or dark, just a light 
discoloration that looked like a sunburn. I went to bed thinking that 
it was strange because I had not been in the sun and could not think of 
what it could be. 

When I awoke in the morning my rash was much more pronounced. I was able
too see that it covered more of my body than I had originally thought. 
The whole front of my torso, my arms from the elbow down, and my legs 
were covered almost completely. I called into work to say I couldn't 
make it in,(I was a waitress at the time)not only did I need to make an 
appointment to see a doctor but I feared that my rash could be 
contagious. I made an appointment for later that day. 

I called some friends in the meanwhile and explained my situation in the
hopes that they may be able to shed some insight. Chicken Pocks? no, I 
had already had them. Food poisoning? I didn't think so. Rosacea? I did 
not know what that was. Eczema? I did not know what that was either. 
After many more suggestions so as to what may be the source of my body 
rash, I decided to stop asking and just wait too see what the doctor 
had to say. 

I remember the walk to the doctors office clearly. The whole time as I
plagued over what it may be, my deepest distress was how I was going to 
pay for the medication to get rid of whatever it was and of how much 
work I would have to miss. I did not know that these were in fact, the 
least of my worries. 

My memory goes a little blank after I was let in to see the doctor. It
comes to me in fragments like some overdone, low budget movie. I 
remember the doctor saying quite matter factly and within a minute of 
my showing him my skin, "Oh, you have psoriasis". I then asked him what 
it was and he proceeded to tell me that it was a skin disease which had 
no cure, but that it could be treated with some creams that may help to 
get rid of the spots. He gave me a prescription and I left. 

I left his office stunned and in a state of anguish at what I dreaded I
knew from what little he had said. I imagined myself all crinkly and 
decrepit, as an old woman, all alone. I went to the pharmacy to fill my 
prescription, that the doctor had so helpingly pointed out to be right 
next door. I didn't have enough money on me to buy the creams because 
they were somewhere in the neighborhood of sixty or eighty dollars, so 
I had to go home to get it and then go back. I always had cash at home 
on account of my being a waitress and making cash tips. Small bank 
account, big wallet. 

I cried all the way home and all the way back to the pharmacy. I felt
that my life as I knew it was over, and I was right. I was given two 
different creams to apply to my various spots, in the mornings and at 
night. It took me over forty minutes to apply the cream, as I was to 
apply it only to the spotted areas. My spots were everywhere, some 
large some small, some hidden, some seen. I was to do this twice daily. 


As I have already stated, I had patches on my arms,legs and torso but
also on my genitals, armpits, hands, feet and scalp (which I was later 
to find needed a specifac shampoo). Over fifty percent of my body was 


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