Au Revoir, Eczema!
Donation protected
Hi friends, family, and possibly strangers.
First off, this is beyond difficult for me to do. To swallow my pride and to ask for help like this. It's also a scary thing to be vulnerable and to put myself out there, especially when you are a female and this affects your outside appearance so much. I truly hope this story helps to educate people and hopefully save someone from making the mistakes I made. In going through this, it has already brought me to other wonderful people and gave me guidance and acceptance in a condition that has opened my eyes to a better me.
My name is Christine, and I've suffered from chronic eczema since I was around 10. Usually when I come across people that are familiar with it, they know it as a small little patch that itches and goes away. You would never think of this auto immune disease as being debilitating, but for thousands of people it affects us physically, emotionally, and mentally. This has always been stressful and embarrassing, especially as a child being teased constantly for it. As I got older, it subsided a little, but never was enough to affect the quality of my life.
This was until a day in August of 2013 that this happened
Besides for looking like a swollen Mulan as one of my friends commented, it was horrifying. My face blistered in third degree like burns and I was in excruciating pain. No one could figure out what was wrong with me besides for an allergic reaction, and prescribed me steroids. Now, I have nothing against steroids because I know they have a beneficial place in medicine, but the misuse of them can lead to detrimental health effects. I applied them to my face for about a year because when I would stop, this would come back. Soon, after about 7 months, the eczema on my body started to appear in degrees I had never seen before. I researched non stop until I came across something called "red skin syndrome" that opened up my eyes and changed my life, Basically my body was addicted to steroids and it was becoming steroid induced eczema. The only way to fix the worsening eczema, was to stop them completely. But with that came a grusome and drawn out withdrawal (essentially it's exactly the same as if you were going through a drug withdrawal, from steroids it comes out through your skin) The withdrawal process usually takes about a year or two depending on usage. I am in month nine, and haven't been able to get back to my work because it covers about 90% of my body, The only reason why I am posting these pictures is to help people understand the severity of what can happen. For most months, I could barely move out of bed. My mom would literally have to pick me up and bathe me as I cried in pain (now that was uniquely heartwrenching and heartwarming experience all in one) I am fortunate to have had breaks throughout this that have allowed me to have some what of a life, but I still spend 80% of my time catching up on my netflix ;). These pictures are unfortunately just the rated G version of how severe it has gotten,
So enough with all the depressing stuff (trust me, I have learned how to be in tuned with my body, gotten deep into health, and have a new appreciation of everyone and everything so much more) There is a world renowned treatment center in a remote area in the south of France that has a hydrotherapy center dedicated just to dermatitis. For 21 days, I would be getting water treatments for an hour or two 6 days a weeks and drinking the spring water. Ummm.. Kinda exciting to be SURROUNDED by like people. Almost like a top secret dermatitis club! Haha. These waters contain probiotics, anti inflammatory, anti fungal, and anti bacterial properties. There is published scientific literature backing the healing properties. People are typically healed 60-80% when they leave the first time. It does generally take 3 times to be "cured", and that's where I need your help the first time until I can start working again! My amazing family has supported me emotionally and financially, but that can only stretch so much after 9 months. Luckily, my super awesome and generous sister has purchased a plane ticket to France for me to start my journey to healing! This money would cover my 21 day treatment, my lodging (this is actually the biggest expense since it's so remote), and my travel to this location from the airport. I don't have set expectations for how much I'll raise, because I don't want my friends to feel obligated to donate anything more then if you were buying me a beer ;) Hopefully I can collect all my "beer money" and get closer to my goal! Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story, or should I say merci beaucoup :)
Here are some helpful links that I touched base on -
www.itsan.org - Worsening eczema in yourself, your child, or a friend? Check this site out!
where I will be staying for 21 days!
www.avenecenter.com/en
An amazing video from Avene about a little girl
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9eCNS8mijj8
First off, this is beyond difficult for me to do. To swallow my pride and to ask for help like this. It's also a scary thing to be vulnerable and to put myself out there, especially when you are a female and this affects your outside appearance so much. I truly hope this story helps to educate people and hopefully save someone from making the mistakes I made. In going through this, it has already brought me to other wonderful people and gave me guidance and acceptance in a condition that has opened my eyes to a better me.
My name is Christine, and I've suffered from chronic eczema since I was around 10. Usually when I come across people that are familiar with it, they know it as a small little patch that itches and goes away. You would never think of this auto immune disease as being debilitating, but for thousands of people it affects us physically, emotionally, and mentally. This has always been stressful and embarrassing, especially as a child being teased constantly for it. As I got older, it subsided a little, but never was enough to affect the quality of my life.
This was until a day in August of 2013 that this happened
Besides for looking like a swollen Mulan as one of my friends commented, it was horrifying. My face blistered in third degree like burns and I was in excruciating pain. No one could figure out what was wrong with me besides for an allergic reaction, and prescribed me steroids. Now, I have nothing against steroids because I know they have a beneficial place in medicine, but the misuse of them can lead to detrimental health effects. I applied them to my face for about a year because when I would stop, this would come back. Soon, after about 7 months, the eczema on my body started to appear in degrees I had never seen before. I researched non stop until I came across something called "red skin syndrome" that opened up my eyes and changed my life, Basically my body was addicted to steroids and it was becoming steroid induced eczema. The only way to fix the worsening eczema, was to stop them completely. But with that came a grusome and drawn out withdrawal (essentially it's exactly the same as if you were going through a drug withdrawal, from steroids it comes out through your skin) The withdrawal process usually takes about a year or two depending on usage. I am in month nine, and haven't been able to get back to my work because it covers about 90% of my body, The only reason why I am posting these pictures is to help people understand the severity of what can happen. For most months, I could barely move out of bed. My mom would literally have to pick me up and bathe me as I cried in pain (now that was uniquely heartwrenching and heartwarming experience all in one) I am fortunate to have had breaks throughout this that have allowed me to have some what of a life, but I still spend 80% of my time catching up on my netflix ;). These pictures are unfortunately just the rated G version of how severe it has gotten,
So enough with all the depressing stuff (trust me, I have learned how to be in tuned with my body, gotten deep into health, and have a new appreciation of everyone and everything so much more) There is a world renowned treatment center in a remote area in the south of France that has a hydrotherapy center dedicated just to dermatitis. For 21 days, I would be getting water treatments for an hour or two 6 days a weeks and drinking the spring water. Ummm.. Kinda exciting to be SURROUNDED by like people. Almost like a top secret dermatitis club! Haha. These waters contain probiotics, anti inflammatory, anti fungal, and anti bacterial properties. There is published scientific literature backing the healing properties. People are typically healed 60-80% when they leave the first time. It does generally take 3 times to be "cured", and that's where I need your help the first time until I can start working again! My amazing family has supported me emotionally and financially, but that can only stretch so much after 9 months. Luckily, my super awesome and generous sister has purchased a plane ticket to France for me to start my journey to healing! This money would cover my 21 day treatment, my lodging (this is actually the biggest expense since it's so remote), and my travel to this location from the airport. I don't have set expectations for how much I'll raise, because I don't want my friends to feel obligated to donate anything more then if you were buying me a beer ;) Hopefully I can collect all my "beer money" and get closer to my goal! Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story, or should I say merci beaucoup :)
Here are some helpful links that I touched base on -
www.itsan.org - Worsening eczema in yourself, your child, or a friend? Check this site out!
where I will be staying for 21 days!
www.avenecenter.com/en
An amazing video from Avene about a little girl
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9eCNS8mijj8
Organizer
Christine 'Veve' Nguyen
Organizer
Denver, CO