Ending month 9

Sorry for not updating in a while! I've been really busy with school and dance, and I should be doing college apps right now but I wanted to update you guys. I think that things are finally starting to calm down! Had my usual end of the month flare but it wasn't bad at all! Barely any oozing and things didn't get too red. Now, I'm just shedding off a bunch of skin, hopefully to reveal new and healed skin underneath. Dance show is coming up in 2 weeks so I hope my skin will behave for that! Also, my face has been doing really well, and I'm hoping that it's closed to healed. I don't get red, burning skin all over my face anymore, but I do get some minor pink patches around my eyelids and cheeks. In addition, my sleep is completely normal!! I never knew that this would happen, but it's great to be sleeping again. I think that going back to school really helped because I have to get up at 7:30 on the dot each day. I'll hopefully post up some pictures later when I have time!

What I Look Forward to After TSW

1. Waking up comfortably and just rolling out of bed, ready to start a new day, instead of being bone dry and unable to move)
2. Not scratching for hours
3. Being able to take long, hot showers
4. Wearing tanktops, short sleeves, and shorts
5. Not having to sweep flakes off of every surface I touch
6. Not having to bring a tub of vaseline with me everywhere
7. Wearing perfume
8. Wearing jewelry
9. Not having to constantly spread vaseline over my painful, flaky, rough skin
10. Having soft, smooth, white skin
11. Not having to worry about flares and when they will occur
12. Not having to remove dead skin from under my nails
13. Feeling human

I'll probably add more to this when I think of some...

Starting Month 9

Started month 9 about 5 days ago, and I must say things are still pretty rough. Today, I woke up with ok skin, super flaky and dry but not too red, and by the end of the night I started oozing around my neck. Also, my eyelids, mouth, and forehead are red and flaky. Arms are the worst at the moment, constantly red, flaky, and covered in scabs. Assuming that what happened last month was the start of the second wave, I'm praying that things will start to get better from now on. I'm so tired of wearing long sleeve shirts every second of my life and having to shake flakes off of everything I own. Sigh, hopefully I'm close to the end.

The Itch!

UGH! The itch is especially horrible with this flare, and scratching makes everything really painful. I pray that this is the healing itch and that it's a step closer to the end.

Fed Up

I'm having my monthly menstrual flare and I'm at my limit. I just had a horrible itching frenzy and scratched my chest until it was raw and oozing....not fun. I just look at everyone else with their flawless skin and get so jealous...how I used to freely wear whatever I wanted and not experience the deathly horrible feeling of clothing over dry, flaky, oozing skin. How I used to wear tank tops and short sleeve shirts, my wardrobe now consisting of a plain, ugly long sleeve top to hide my red arms. How I used to be able to snuggle up in my blankets in any position and feel comfortable, while now I'm confined to lying straight on my back without moving so that my ooze doesn't touch the sheets. The list goes on and on, and I just wish this would all be over already so that I can live normally again. I've already been through 8 months, nearing 9, of this hell, and I know that some have suffered longer and harder than I have but this is just horrible. No one on earth should have to suffer through this...it's outrageous. Of the 5 stages of grief, I'm still at the anger/bargaining/depression stages, and I probably won't reach the acceptance stage until I'm healed. I hope you're all faring better than me, and hopefully in a few days I won't feel as bad.

Uh oh...

The red skin has spread to the back of my knees. I prayed this wouldn't happen...but it did...

Getting better

I'm healing up from the last flare, but somehow my eyelids oozed and swelled up this morning. I'm almost positive that it was the chocolate that I ate yesterday, but can't be too sure...Also today in the school bathroom, a girl seemed genuinely concerned that I had been beaten up because of my swollen, red eyelids. I assured her that it was just allergies and hightailed it out of there....I don't know whether to be hurt or amused by this HA! Hope you're all having a well-needed break.