What works?

Another question that is I am often asked is "what are you doing to take care of that?" Although there are many forms of treatment, I chose to use the least harmful to my son. I am not against traditional medicine, however if it is possible to "heal naturally" I would much rather do that. There is always a time and place for every thing and if absolutely necessary of course I will go with traditional medicine.

So far what has worked best for my son has been really watching his diet. I've noticed that when we really monitor what he's eating (only feeding him the foods he's not sensitive to), he improves tremendously. He has been tested for food sensitivities (which was not cheap!) which is how we were able to determine what foods not to feed him. This can sometimes be a challenge especially when it's something he really likes and used to eat all the time.

Luckily I have a great source of support that consists of my husband, parents and my brother. As much as possible we all try to eat the same foods that my son can have. There are times when it's not always feasible, but my son usually understands is ok with it. We have learned where we can and can not eat out at and on the plus side I have even dropped some weight because of this. :)

Until next time, keep positive!

The inevitable question

How many times have you been out and about while experiencing a break out? I know sometimes you can dread leaving the house to run errands or go to a social gathering (especially when you'll be meeting some new people). As I explained in the previous post, my son has psoriasis on nearly every part of his body. The most noticeable area being his face. On a daily basis I find myself responding to the never ending statement, "Wow, you really got sunburned!" My son has learned to politely respond by saying, "no, I have psoriasis". Fortunately for me, he has more patience for these comments than I do sometimes. Usually I try to calmly explain that he has psoriasis. However there are days when I feel like screaming, "KEEP YOUR IGNORANT COMMENT TO YOURSELF!!!".

Feeling overwhelmed at times is completely normal when learning to live with psoriasis. Some people can be really nice and even though they can clearly see that the skin of a person is not "normal", they keep to themselves and treat the person or child just like any other person. These are the people I truly admire and deeply respect.

On the other hand you have people that make these kinds of comments, which make you want to respond with a rude comment back. We need to remember that the people who make these rude comments and assumptions, really don't know any better. I like to call it ignorance. The only way to get rid of the ignorance is by educating others.

So the next time someone makes a comment or asks about your "sunburn", please try to remain calm and educate the person. The more people that are aware of this condition, the better informed people can be and possibly someday even find a cure.

Until next time, stay positive. Everyone is beautiful in their own unique way! :)

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to Not A Sunburn! This blog will serve as way to help encourage kids and parents alike to stay positive about living with psoriasis. Psoriasis can be hard for children to deal with especially when they are experiencing a break out. By blogging about psoriasis I hope to be able to brighten the days of others and at the same time raise awareness about this disease.

Just a little background about myself and my situation. I have a very handsome 6 year old boy who is living with psoriasis. He was first diagnosed with psoriasis at the age of 4. Just about every part of his body is affected, however he does go through spurts where he gets better. For the most part he is a positive boy who loves to play with his legos. As I embark on this adventure I'm sure you will get to know him more. Maybe I'll even have him write some of his thoughts.

I hope you enjoy following!!