So much to say

I really truly wanted to have a post that remembered 9/11, although I wasn't there- it touched me the same ways it touched all Americans. I also wanted to create a post on Galveston/Houston and the impending hurricane, along with a few other things I have been meaning to get around to but still haven't! So, you may be asking- if I have all these things I want to say, why don't I? I mean I am sitting here typing....

Well, thing is my ECZEMA is DRIVING ME CRAZY. I get one area ALMOST completely healed and wham bam thank you m'am if I don't get another annoying area that sprouts up. Here's the deal- I usually get eczema in a variety of areas, usually all are manageable, except in between my fingers or say under my ring on my ring finger.

This location has officially prevented me from wearing my ring since I gave birth to Garrett. Before Garrett was born I had to stop wearing my rings because my hands were swollen. Sunday we took my wedding band in to be resized to see if this corrects the situation since my eczema in this locations has almost cleared up.

Now, if you know anything about this EVIL SKIN CONDITION, you would know that it is an immune disease, kinda like asthma (actually very very similar, as your immune system attacks your skin, rather than your lungs in this case). There are no known causes, it simply exists. A few theories link it to food, a lack of good bacteria (bifidus stuff) and stress. I think it has MANY triggers (an overabundance of perfumes, dyes, chemicals, lotions, plastics...yep you name it) yet it's primary cause is genetic and possibly related to chemicals found in one's life (environment, food, etc.), but again who really knows. It is obvious though, in my opinion that it is the body's response to pollutants or what it believes to be pollutants.

With all that said, I have suffered OFF and ON for oh ALL MY LIFE! I have years when it is dormant and everything is peachy, hunky dory and then there are times like NOW that are agony. And this go around it hasn't even been as bad as it CAN be. Yeah, you heard that correctly.

I have had it so bad that I wake myself up in the middle of the night scratching at my skin, so frantically that I feel a sensation like pin pricks/goose bumps upon my skin- only to find I have made myself bleed. The scratching is that intense. Luckily it has not gotten that bad since my college finals. (read stress) Now, I have learned to control it, with a few outbreaks here and there. I was dealing with it as best could be with only a heavier hydrocortisone when I felt it warranted getting a prescription of Elidel (the 2002 Drug of the Year). My regular doctor prescribed it without a whim and said use it sparingly. Oh ok. So, because I am anal about things, I look up some more information on it (I used this stuff like it was going out of style when it first came out, but no one had said use it sparingly.) I find out the FDA has now given it a BLACK BOX WARNING, meaning it MAY cause issues (as in skin cancer or lymphoma from prolonged use and too much use while in the sunlight). Ok, so now if I use it I have to be careful it isn't SUNNY out. Great.

I also have another ointment that is a pure steroid cream (another use sparingly product) that is awesome and I actually think has less bad effects (skin thinning and screws up your endocrine system- which indirectly effects my milk supply) vs. cancer. Anyway, I was using it as prescribed- and read up that Elidel could be used on the face, the other can't. Thing is I get dried cracks on the sides of my lips- I used it and it started clearing it up. Well, guess what....

It appears that I didn't wash my hands good enough after applying the ointment to my fingers or that I have overused the product because now I am plagued by Perioral Dermatitis. This can be caused by hydrocortisones/steroids! In this case, I am pretty sure it is. Lovely.

I am at my wit's end. The recommended course for treatment is bacterial creams. Well, as someone who already has had 3 course of antibiotics this year, I feel I really cannot succumb to anymore rounds of antibiotics and feel still feel safe. (A buildup of resistant bacteria can occur from overuse of antibiotics or by not completing your full dose of antibiotics.) I'm starting to think I am a worry wort.

I feel somewhat better now, if anything maybe I educated some folks on eczema and it's EVIL nature. I don't think I can take much more of this horrible disease. I am asking for any prayer, big or small. Thank you in advance.

In the meantime, I will be saying a silent prayer in remembrance of New York City and another that God looks over the Texas coast as Ike approaches.