3 yr 8 month

Hello!

First off, I AM SO SORRY! I have become one of those Topical Steroid Withdrawal bloggers who got better and fell off the surface of the blog. I really didn’t mean to, but life got in the way and my phone is still broken.

My life has been very eventful, but my skin hasn’t been. I have some dryness here and there, but nothing that would be considered out of ordinary with “normal-skinned” people. It’s dry when I first come out of the (admittedly very long and pretty hot) shower, but it goes away in time without mositurizer. My friends still tell me my skin looks amazing, so there’s that. I will prove it to you with pics when my phone arrives.

I hope you are well, and know that it gets better.

 

3 years 2 months

Hello!

Sorry about the long absence. Life happens, and I got lazy.

Short news is I’m doing great! Life is awesome. Skin is wonderful, as it have been for a while. I am still gluten free and lactose free, although I’ve been eating a lot of cheese lately.

 

Long news to come, with pictures, when my phone stops being stupid and lets me update from it.

I hope you are doing okay. <3

 

Almost 36month!

Hello!

I am so sorry Ive been gone so long. Honestly, I am not busy at all, just lazy haha. My skin is still doing well. It is kind of allergic to the sun, and its very sunny here, so sometimes I get minor rahes. Its not even itchy so I don’t mind. Body is still moisturizer free 99.99% of time (I cant remember the last time but Im sure it has happened) face I sometimes use moisturizer if I wash my face with face wash. Usually it’s water and leave alone method for me. Diet is still gf, lf, try to stay away from sugar.

Just a quick update to let you guys know how I am doing. Here are some photos from life. Remember, pics or it didn’t happen :D But really, I would be wary of claims of people being healed if there are no photos to back it up.

Times square is best 7 in the morning lulz.

Before I started juice cleanse…. i will post more about it, but the tl;dr is NotWorthIt!!!

That’s it for now! Long update coming for 3 yr mark! Crossing my fingers the anniversary flare doesnt happen! I hope you are feeling better.

TWO AND A HALF YEAR update!

Hello everybody! I can’t believe it’s been two and a half year since I started this crazy crazy journey. Skin is doing really well, even though I’ve been putting it through some ringers. Life has been kind of stressful and …

28.5 update w pictures

Hello!

I am doing really well! I’ve told myself I will keep updating even when things are good but alas, I’ve been very bad about that. My apologies.

I have been traveling a lot, working, studying. Things are busy and the past couple month my skin has been at 100%. Even when my diet is bad, it’s been good. The cold is very good for my skin.

There aren’t too many only skin close up pictures. But they are all well. The pictures are mainly from my trav
els. Maybe you can imagine you are there too if you are currently homebound.

Stay strong!

Did well even in hot and humid Guam! Ate badly too :3 but the skin held up!

Awk face.. But you can see my arm skin, etc haha

When I was in Japan- first time travelling with good skin since I started TSW! It was amazing. Healing happens!

Photos from October 25 2015 and before (when the weather was above freezing)

And there it is. Sorry for such a delay. I hope you are doing well today…. And if not, know that you are not alone, ans that this will pass. <3

Month 22.5 update!

I’m not sure what happened but this post got completely erased the first time around… so here we go again!

Since I am updating this on July 6th, I can talk about the plane ride as well.

Unfortunately, my skin underwent a minor flare for threeish weeks. or two. something like that. And since about two/three weeks ago, it’s been on recovering mode. The flare itself was pretty minor – I’ve been itchy, no oozing, sleep is fine, energy level were fine. Humidity, sweat and heat are enemies of my skin, and unfortunately, the weather is becoming increasingly humid and hot. For shame! But skin is continuing to recover. I’ve been attempting to be good about my diet again, since when I was at LA, I went a bit crazy with gluten and lactose consumption. To balance out, I’ve also drank lots of green juice. So far, skin seems to be doing ok.

The flight over was drying, but it was manageable. I lucked out and manage to have the entire row of seats to myself, so I slept for good 10 hours of the trip. That was wonderful. I am at a stage where I am beginning to think moisturizer will do more good than harm, when applied judiciously. I have a much better understanding of my skin, and a such, I can tell when my skin is dry, and need moisturizer, and when the skin is flaring.

Attached are few photos. Hope everybody is doing well!

Month 18 and 18.5 update

Month 18 – Feb 23 2015:
Sigh. I wish I had good news so badly, but alas, my skin keeps getting worse. I am itchy and dry everywhere. During the day itch isn’t so bad but during nights it becomes really bad. In addition I can’t fall asleep at night and I am oozey. My semester starts in a week in a different country (thank God I at least speak the language). I am trying to stay positive, but on the sleepless nights I find myself overwhelmed and terrified.

I’ll be all alone at Korea – no parents or husband. I don’t even have a place to live yet… My skin hasn’t been this bad in over a year. Open wounds have returned. Imsomnia, chills, oozing, itch fits all have returned. At least I don’t have nerve pain.

I will still fight hard to stay positive. And I think I’ll succeed. But tonight I seem to be at a low point. I have 8 hr flight ahead of me- the last 5 hr dried out not only only the skin but the mucus membranes as well. I can’t even take lots of antihistamines because they make my teeth chip.

I will stay the course and stay off steroids… But I totally understand why some go back to it.

February 22/3 2015- after day in bali

Shirt I wore in bali

Shirt I wore in bali

Also early February, I was really concerned because I got blisters on my hands and feet. Throughout the whole the my feet and hands were spared of symptoms so it was alarming. Thankfully it went away and stayed away.

Progress of worsening skin – look at my neck. Pic in order of older to newer

I think my flare peaked a day or two after this picture then at Bali.

It started to get a bit better after I came back from camping.

Month 18.5 – March 7th 2015

When I wrote the 18month update, I was in a hopeless place. I did enjoy Bali though, but that humid and heat was bad bad bad for my skin.

So as expected the flight was pretty bad. I was really red and irritated itchy and sleep was hard, etc.

However
As I stayed at very cold and dry Korea, my skin healed up pretty nicely. I sleep well at night, I’m not too itchy, and skin is dry but is starting to adjust to the dryness of Korea (still no moisturizer!).

The change was pretty fast- makes me think not everyone does well in the Sun/summer/sand/salt. I got worse and worse while I went camping by the sea and attempted to stay in cold salt water despite the pain. In the cold (around just below freezing) my skin got noticeably better everyday – so much so that within 2 days my friend said “oh your skin looks so much better now.”

I’m not too worried anymore about studying. I am still kind of flaky but much better than how I was. Still not 100% but I think I’ll get there in time. It’s just a pity that my skin flares seem to align with whenever I am with my husband. Our running joke is that I am allergic to him… Hopefully not!

Below pictures were taken March 7 2015

I am enjoying Korea though despite the hectic schedule till now. Some pictures from Jeju island (March 27-29 2015, chronologically)

So thankful skin improved! Happy healing everybody! Fight the good fight.

Month 17.5 – HUGE FLARE :(

Well, it was good as it lasted! What seems to be the break is over. It was insane how fast my skin got bad when it seemed like it took forever to heal. Within two days of posting the 17month update post, skin started to go down hill and hasn’t stopped. Yesterday I took a sulfur bath and right now I feel less inflamed and more dry. Perhaps it is helping. I don’t actually know.

I have a feeling I am allergic to cats and I was around one for about a week which did not help with my skin. I think. I don’t actually know. Its extremely frustrating why I flared again when I was doing so well, but all one can do is hope it will go away! It’s disappointing as I was excited to be with my husband when I was all healthy, but alas.

My skin is terrible. It is a full body flare, I am covered in hives all over my body. Arms, neck, scalp, and face are the worst but my torso, back, legs, and butt are bad as well. In addition, I have tiny blisters on my feet and hands which were never affected throughout the entire topical steroid withdrawal, so I am a bit worried. Skin that is not covered with hives are strong and moisturized, although unfortunately there aren’t too many of those. My neck, scalp, and behind my ears were oozing a bit, it seemed to have subsided now, but who knows. For now I will continue on with the sulfur baths and hope it helps.

Thankfully itch isn’t too bad. I definitely am a lot more itchier, but I can sleep through the night and itch is not all consuming. That is another confusing thing for me actually -I am not even itching that much but the skin seems to continue to get worse. Mind boggling this topical steroid withdrawal! 
Mentally I was pretty depressed for about a week and a half as I saw my skin go downhill. It was devastating to realize I had to suffer again and I was not, in fact, done with this shitty process. That said, I definitely have more energy now than I did during second and third flares… Which is weird because I think my skin is far far worse. Confusing. I am trying really hard to stay positive and happy. My husband is as supportive and loving and generally awesome as usual and for him I am trying really hard to remind myself of the blessings in my life and it is mostly working! It’s hard work to remain upbeat- don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Chronic illness is a bitch and if it affects how you look, it’s a double bitch! But we still have control over how we feel and I am choosing to feel blessed and happy.

Pictures will come at 18 month update next week. Hope everyone is having a better skin day than I am!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Last Christmas was a struggle town for me. This Christmas I feel awesome! I went to see Christmas lights and ran into friends from both Hugh school and college! Here are some pictures!

It gets better! Meanwhile hopefully the pictures can provide you a little bit of joy this season. I love you all!!!

16 month update

Hello!!
Can’t believe that it’s already been 16 months! 2014 has been an incredible year filled with lots of ups and downs.

I’m doing well. Skin has finally seem to be very resistant- meaning stress, lifestyle change, or food choices don’t seem to affect it’s health. I just had my finals week and as a result sleep and food wasn’t too good but my skin persevered.

Above picture is after a warm shower. I am still doing moisturizer withdrawal since my skin doesn’t seem to need it. I get itchy here and there but nothing too disconcerting. Skin is very strong and most of the time it’s not even in my radar.

I’ll be going back to the sulfur spring since it seemed to help my skin. Again, if you feel you’ve hit a plateau in your healing I highly recommend the sulfur hot springs. I still have discoloration all over my body but I’m sure they will go away in time.

Life is good. I’ll be praying and hoping all of the tsw warriors reach this stage sooner rather than later. Stay strong everybody <3