Being diagnosed with psoriasis

When I was diagnosed, it pretty much started and was diagnosed within a six-month time period, so, it just started on my scalp first, with like dry spots. I thought I had dandruff. And, needless to say, it was psoriasis, and it was not going away. And then it spread about two years later to the rest of my body. It tore apart my self confidence, it changed my daily activities, what I would choose to do or not do, or who I would show my skin to and who I wouldn't. Even my own brothers hadn't seen me in a bathing suit for years because of that, you know. I just didn't even want to ... I didn't want to be teased, like when I was a kid, about anything.

Changing the way I dressed

Yeah, I just ... I completely gave up the entire black side of my closet, because it was like a constant snowfall on my shoulders, you know, from the psoriasis on the scalp. So that was ... that was impossible. And anything with short sleeves, or any shorter skirts, those all just ... I didn't give them away. I kind of always had that hope, like I'll get back in those one day. And, you know, I'd just sort of avoid those, and I ... I'd just buy a lot of light colored tops, and so I was really staying away from all of my favorite colors and just wearing anything fun, really. And black, which is just like your basic.

Dealing with others’ reactions

I had somebody say ... I had somebody say something really bad on a date. I had gone out with this guy for ... we had been friends for a little while or whatever, and gone out with him for a couple of times. And on our second date he ... I had had a tee-shirt on, like, underneath a sweater, and I took off my sweater at some point, and you know, just living your life, you forget that you've got these visible spots sometimes on your skin. And I just wasn't thinking, and I took it off. And immediately he asked me if I had herpes. That was a new one. I went, I didn't think that's how it shows up, but okay.

I've had strangers ask, you know, about it. Usually strangers will be kind of polite, I've found, if they do ask anything. You know, they'll just say, oh, is that a rash, or how did you get that. Or else, I've had a few people say, oh, I've got something like that, what is it? And I'm like, well, you might have psoriasis, you know. And I kind of ... because there's suddenly about a couple of people who are like, wow, I get something like that, too, you know. But they just maybe didn't have it as steady as I did, or every day. It would just come out in waves or in stress points. So yeah.

Psoriasis and work

You know, it didn't affect my work as far as like having to miss work or anything like that, but I would say that it just, it's just going back to the whole not feeling comfortable thing. You know, I'd be there covered up all day not feeling comfortable, and that just sort of really wears on your mind a little bit, and your emotional state, you know, no matter where you are, whether you're at work or not. And also, too, you know, once it started creeping kind of closer to my hands, I didn't want to have to shake someone's hand and them to be like, ooh, I'm going to catch something, you know. So that was always in the back of my head.

What living well means to me

Everything, but especially just being able to enjoy a Chicago summer, now that I'm living there again, and just being able to be on the beach and be, you know, be on the lake, anything like that, just outside. Wearing any clothes besides winter clothes is great, not having to cover from head to toe.