Update at Nearly 17 Months (photos)

OK, first of all I want to give a BIG thank you to Kristina over on the scratchymonster blog for sending me my own copy of the book we have been working on together- "Taming the Scratchy Monster". I had the e-copy, but the print copy is absolutely fantastic. It will be available on Itsan.org soon. So get 'em while they are hot!

Here I am, looking rather smug with my precious copy of our book.

 

 

 

Anyway, I haven't posted on the blog for a while as the kids have been off school for 2 weeks and have totally addled my brain. They are all finally back today (yay!) so I get some "me time" and more importantly, some blog time! Sorry to all those who left comments wondering where I was. You will be pleased to know that I am still alive and kicking (just about!).

 

My skin has been in a bit of a stagnant phase. It flared for a while but now seems to be slowly healing again. The fact we got some sun yesterday was a bonus. The harsh UK weather has set me back a lot.

So here is my pinky face! The flaring has died down, but I am still a bit pink. I really believe that this will die down when we get more sun. All things considered, it is not bad at all and a vast improvement on the last lot of photos I put on here.

My hand isn't too bad. There is a bit of excess skin on the wrist which has been very itchy and some tiny watery blisters on the palm, but generally the area is very good. Word of warning though; I tried baking some bread at the weekend and my hand went crazy itchy kneading the dough. I don't know if it was the flour or the yeast, but I won't be doing that again.

Here is my arm. Again, much improved. There is an area of diffuse redness where I have scratched, but nothing like the infamous "red sleeve" that plagued me in the early months of withdrawal. The oils are slowly coming back to this area and hopefully I will be able to bare my arms and get some sun on them soon.

My neck is still the worst area, although the photo does not look too bad! It has been oozing at night for about 2 weeks. I am now used to the oozing and it doesn't bother me as much as it used to. I keep waking up with a load of "skin putty" round my neck. This area is a whole shade redder than the rest of my torso, so no going out in a bikini for me!

Healing is painfully slow, but tangible. Flares are deeply discouraging but necessary. I am getting there slowly.

I hope these latest photos encourage people to stick with the non-steroid route, even though it is hard. life is back to normal for me now and I am not preoccupied with my skin as much as I was. Last week I had several big days out with the family and suffered no ill effects at all with my skin. Every day there are more people discovering Itsan and new blogs going online all the time. The truth about steroids is gaining momentum and freeing minds and bodies.