A Rising Star??

Since the last time I blogged things have been just as crazy and busy. In addition to school work, Aidan has been busy with other projects as well. About 2 weeks ago he got called to do a fashion show at Metro Center Mall. He'd never one before but he decided to give it a shot. He was asked to model for Journey Kids (they called us on Tuesday and the show was on Saturday) so we hauled tail to the mall to get his wardrobe for the big day. I was nervous that his psoriasis would flare up just in time for the show, so again we did everything possible to prevent a flare up. Saturday came and Aidan was looking really good, and he even confessed to me that he was a bit nervous since he didn't know what to expect. I told him he would be fine and do great! Finally it was show time and we were anxiously awaiting for Aidan to make his appearance. I saw him coming up to the runway and started to get butterflies in my stomach (I can only imagine how he felt!). He walked up there and looked a little nervous, but smiled the whole time and did a great job.

Next he heard about a contest that a local radio station Mix 96.9 was going to be holding, a singing contest! He wanted to sign up right away, so I said ok. I filled out the paperwork submitted his video and he has officially been entered in the contest. Of course he chose his favorite song of all La Bamba. Since I had taken video of him performing for his school talent show I decided to use that footage. Although the video was kinda shaky he really did a good performance that day. So now the contest is on and it's open for voting. Promotional part.......please make sure to vote for his video http://www.mix969.com/pages/kiddieokee/vote-entrants.php?ag=7#1 you can vote everyday once per email address/IP address. If he does well in round 1 of voting, then he will move on to round 2 starting May 2nd. If he makes it to the finals he'll then be performing live at Desert Ridge Marketplace for the Finals round.


Recently Aidan has been experiencing a flare up, nonetheless he has been keeping busy with what he loves to do, entertain. He really amazes me and his attitude is so good. He doesn't let his psoriasis get in the way of the things he loves the most. We are working hard to get him cleared up and he is also helping out by being such a good sport and doing everything we ask of him. Everyday this little boy amazes me even more.

Busy, Busy

Well the past few weeks have really kept us busy. Aidan has always wanted to perform ever since he was a baby. He loves music and singing. Ever since he started talking, we would ask him, "what do you want to be when you grow up?" His answer has always been, "a singer". It wasn't until his psoriasis worsened that I started to worry, how will handle rejection. Of course all of the singers and famous people we know, all have the "perfect" look. Aidan, doesn't seem to mind and is actually really confident when performing. I realized that in just the past couple of weeks.

Recently in an attempt to foster his love of music, he was enrolled in guitar lessons. He has been asking to learn to play the guitar for quite sometime now. Finally I found a place for him to take lessons. He started lessons back in November, so he's only been playing for about 4 months now. Well the first weekend in February, his music school held a recital. The students all got to go up on stage and perform what they had been working on. It was a family affair and everyone was there. My aunt even came to see him perform. At first we were all very nervous for him and thought he would get nervous to perform in front of everyone. Aidan came out got ready and rocked the place. He had everyone dancing and clapping in thier seats! We were all so proud of him and there were even tears of joy. Nobody even seemed to notice that he was experiencing a sight flare up. After his perfomance, I asked him, "were you nervous going up there to do that?" He said, "nope, not at all."

The following weekend his school hosted a talent show. I had asked Aidan if he wanted to participate and right away he said YES! So I signed him up and he rehearsed his little heart out right up to the day of the performance. Again there were a lot of people, and even though his skin was in a mid stage (between being healed and flared up), he was confident going on stage. He went up there, introduced himself and sung his little heart out. Again he had people clapping and dancing in thier seats! Even after his performance he had people coming up to him telling him what a wonderful job he had done.

Aidan had also recently auditioned for a baseball commercial. The same weekend of his talent show, I got a phone call. Aidan landed the part in the commercial!! We were all so excited but at the same time I was nervous for him. I started thinking OMG what if he has a breakout and flares up? Well I started taking extra precautions and REALLY paying attention to what he was eating, giving him oatmeal baths etc. Well needless to say it payed off. He looked great and did an awesome job.

Although Aidan has hard days  dealing with his psoriasis, I think there are many days when he has "succesful" days and lives life as a "normal" child. These are the times that I try to help Aidan to understand that these are the days that count. Everyone has good and bad days, but when you are living with a visible ailment, it can really make life a little bit harder especially for a child trying to understand why sometimes people don't see him as a "normal" child.

Catching up

Well it's been a while (6 months in fact) since there's been an update so here it goes....
Let's see, well Aidan celebrated his 7th birthday in September and we had the chance to spend it at Legoland! He had a blast and went on all the rides. He was also really excited that his psoriasis was really clear. After his birthday came the holidays. Like everyone else, the holidays kept us super busy.

The winter always seems to be a little worse for Aidan's skin and he tends to break out during this time. So after a summer of being clear, he slowly started breaking out again. I think this has to be the most frustrating thing because we try so hard to prevent breakouts but winter time just isn't our friend. Although Aidan didn't seem to mind too much because he knew Christmas was just right around the corner. Santa Clause must have thought the boys were really good this year because come Christmas morning, there were lots of gifts! Santa even brought the boys a trampoline!! I think this was the favorite gift this Christmas.

We now find ourselves in the month of February and I wonder where the time went!! My goal this year is to try to keep up with the blog, since I didn't do such a good job last year, and gather more readers. Since I'm fairly new at this I'm still trying to figure it out. So hopefully you will be hearing from me again soon!

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!!