Oh The Joys of Looking Beautiful!

So, I went to a new dermatologist regarding my vitiligo for a second opinion. In case I haven't already written about it, its an autoimmune thing that attacks a person's skin therefore taking away one's skin pigment. It was comforting and a bit disheartening at the same time. The doctor was a bit humerous and laughed when she asked me why I was there for vitiligo. She said that I was lucky because mine is barely noticeable thanks to my milky white complexion. I told her I wanted something to keep it from spreading. So, $65 later, she sent me home with two creams that I am to use twice daily. She also recommended some sun therapy 10 minutes a day followed by sun screen. In my line of work, the sun therapy is just not gonna happen. I have to put sun screen on first thing in the morning and I'm outside at least 2 hours a day. In this heat, there's no way in hell I'm wearing long sleeves and baggy pants! So, basically its the creams for the next 3 months. After 3 months, if the creams don't work, she says I can try skin grafting. I've decided that if the creams don't work, the creams just don't work. There's not going to be any grafting. I'm fortunate that its only cosmetic. It doesn't cause cancer. I'm not itching or in pain so there's not going to be any grafting!

On the down side, she said that since I've had it for so long (13 years) there's not a good chance that the creams will work. On a positive note she ran a florescent light over my body and there's not that much of it on my face. Which means the creams just might keep it from spreading. Since its summer, I feel like its more noticeable. I think I look like an overweight giraffe but you can't tell in pictures so its just me who notices. Either way, I'll be ok. I'm thankful to have my Grandma T.'s porcelain skin. She too had vitiligo and by the time she was older you couldn't tell she had it. She just looked fair skinned.

The dermatologist sent me with this brochure to order this stuff called vitiligo dye. You put it on the spot where there's no pigment and it basically temporarily dyes your skin. Kind of like tan in a can. So, I'm a sucker for stuff like that and guess what? I bought some. I put it on and by 2pm I was looking great. You couldn't tell I had vitiligo. Yeah, well by 5pm, on my way to meet my boyfriend I look down and notice I have orange circles where I have applied the dye! Yep, both knees and elbows. He didn't notice or if he did, he was smart enough not to say. Talk about being mortified!?! See what I mean about keeping humble? I don't have low self-esteem, I just know better than to get too confident cause when I do, I end up with orange spots!