Little Luxuries.....

Back in the bad old days of my early withdrawal, I used to have as many as three Epsom salt baths a day to ease the terrible pain and discomfort.

Oh how I used to dream that one day my skin would be tough enough to tolerate the heavenly array of scenty bath products out there...

Well...my patience and persistence have paid off. Tomorrow I will be 21 months off the 'roids and my skin is the best it has ever been. The texture, thickness and smoothness of the skin are all in stark contrast to the "full body eczema" that I had previously suffered at the hands of the steroids.

For the last few months, my healing has been rapid and dramatic. I can't stop stroking my arms!

Anyway...my friend was having a cosmetics party and I threw all caution to the wind and bought some lovely scented products to pamper myself with.

Then it was off for a nice long soak in a deep bubble bath (although I still sprinkled some ES in out of habit), followed by a generous helping of mango body butter all over my skin. I smelled like a fruit salad!

These are things I could never have contemplated using when my skin was bad.

It is nice to know that there is a world beyond Vaseline and Epsom salts.

It's good to have a goal to focus on. Even if it is something as simple as a fruity bubble bath.

Our Taming the Scratchy Monster Book is a Big Hit!

I recently wrote a post about our newly released book, Taming the Scratchy Monster, which was created to help children and families going through TSW by making the process easier to understand. It is also ideal for parents with TSW to share with their children to help them to understand how mommy or daddy is feeling.

Since releasing the book, I have noticed a few reviews popping up on the internet. Thank you very much to all those who have reviewed the book and help to spread awareness.

My favourite review has to be this one from "The Ruminative Me". The blog is written by a parent who has a little boy going through TSW. I loved the photos of him reading the book and the way that the book has helped him to understand what his little body is going through. He is adorable!

My blog friends Miss Kitty and Miss Eczema Excellence have also written reviews on their blogs, which you can access from the list on the right.

I'm so glad that the book is doing some good. It was based on little Keira's amazing healing journey. She is now 100% healed and living life to the full. "Scratchy" was her creation and she should be so proud that she has helped so many people.

Flash Flare!

Just as I thought I was done with flaring....

I am having a few, isolated "mini-flares" on patches around my body. The first one appeared a few days ago on my upper chest.

 Since then, I have had patches appear on my inner arms and on my left cheek. I don't want to upset anyone by writing this. I am always 100% honest about my TSW recovery.

 This is just another blip. These flares are nowhere near as bad as the ones before. I am definitely near the finish line people! TSW just wants to have a final bash at me before it dies!

As you can see, my cheek is pinky red. Yes, a mild flare but nowhere near as bad as before.

Same goes for my arm. You can see the pink flare bits, but there are also lots of normal areas.

I have complete faith that my skin will totally heal. I keep looking at Jake, Rochelle and Julianas blogs and they give me the confidence I need to know that this won't last forever.

Be gone, TSW!!!

BTW, if anyone still hasn't ordered their Scratchy Monster Book from Itsan.org, go do it now! It has already raised lots of money for the charity and with your help, it can raise even more! Visit www.itsan.org and click on the "Children's Book" tab for more info. 100% of proceeds go to the charity.

Taming the Scratchy Monster Book

After a long wait, our lovely book, Taming the Scratchy Monster, has finally hit the printing press and is available to order from the Itsan website!

I wrote the book when I was going through a really tough time with my steroid withdrawal. My skin was oozy, tight, dry and uncomfortable. I knew that there were many people going through the same thing, including children, and I just wanted to do something.

Writing has been a great therapy for me during TSW. It has given me power over the illness. Writing about it has given me back some kind of control when it felt like my skin was completely out of control.

The first draught of the story was very long! I had the idea of writing about a boy who kept feeding a monster who kept growing and wouldn't leave him alone. The only way for him to be free was to stop feeding the monster and cross many perils, such as a dry desert, red river, oozy swamp and hot volcano. Each stage in the journey represents the harsh symptoms of TSW.

I sent the book to some Itsan members with kids, who gave me lots of advice about tweaking the story and making it into a picture book format. One particular Itsan member, Kristina, liked the story so much that she found a great illustrator to do the artwork to go with the words. The result is fantastic and Gloria's beautiful artwork compliments my words perfectly.

"Scratchy" was created by a young girl going through TSW. He is such a great character and was a lot of fun to write about. He perfectly epitomises what TSW is all about, as he is covered with itchy prickles and won't leave you alone. Little Keira, his creator, managed to heal completely from her TSW and, as she puts it, "Kick him in the booty".

In the last few months, I have also managed to kick the scratchy monster in the booty, as my skin has gone from bad to great. The book is about the experiences of all those who have healed from TSW, including myself.

100% of the money raised from the book will go to Itsan.

The book is ideal for kiddies going through this hell, but I also found it useful for explaining to my 3 kids how my TSW affects me. After reading the book, they "got it", straight away.

It is a great tool in our TSW armoury. I hope everyone enjoys reading it as much as we enjoyed producing it. Thank you so much to Itsan for having faith in our little story and putting it out to print.

Fantastic New Video From Itsan

Thank you Itsan for this wonderful resource. I hope the video will reach many, many suffering people and help them on their steroid-free journey.

Feeling Freakin' Awesome! (photos)

As you can tell from the big gaps in my posts, I am blogging less and living more. My TSW really isn't bothering me at all. I have a few blotchy patches, but the sunny weather means that most people out there are redder than me, which suits me fine.

In three days time I will be 20 months steroid-free.

Anyway, a picture tells a thousand words, so on with the photos...

I am super pleased with my neck and chest. This used to be one of my worst areas and took ages to clear, even oozing as recently as a few months ago. At worst, I couldn't turn my neck at all, so the fact that the skin is now lovely, smooth and clear is a major miracle. I thought this area would never get better. If you go back through the blog you will see how bad it has been in the past.

No, that brown band across my feet isn't dirt! It is actually my skin trying to tan through my sandals! I've got tiger feet! Tan is way better than red skin and my legs are nice and normal and smooth. Still need to get them to tan up to match the feet though....

My arm is tanned too, although the photo does not do it justice! Not a sign of TSW rash anywhere along the back of my arm, although there is a little bit on my inner arms, which is on its way out.

My face is nearly, nearly there! It is not red anymore, although I have the odd scratch mark where I have clawed at it in the night! At least I can see my normal skin colour again though. I forgot I was that colour. I don't gasp in horror when I look in the mirror now.

I hope my photos encourage those suffering right now. I read all the other TSW blogs and see what a hard time some of you are having it, so I hope my photos cheer everyone up. I really do feel that the sun has helped my skin, although those in the early stages of TSW should stay well out of the sun until the redness phase has diminished.

My thoughts and love are with all those going through tough TSW times right now.

Sunshine Doing Me Good

Finally we have a heatwave here in the UK.

And yes, it cleared that last flare right up. My skin looks and feels better than ever.

I am trying to get as much sun as possible on my skin because I can really feel the difference when I do. All the old skin flared off and left baby soft skin behind.

I will post photos as soon as I can, but I am busy playing in the garden with the kids in the paddling pool and don't have time today. I just felt I had to post because the last post was about me flaring and I didn't want to leave it on a bad note.

Things are so much better, I expect to be completely healed within a few months. I am as good as healed anyway.

Because of this I will be spending a lot less time on the blog and forums. It may sound a bit selfish, but I have had 19 months of this hell and I deserve a break. Writing and reading about it all the time gets depressing.

Don't worry, I'm not abandoning everyone. I will be back from time to time with progress reports, but there are enough new folks on the itsan forum and blogs to pass the baton on to.