Friends & Your Psoriasis

Do you wish that your friends understood how you struggle with your psoriasis? Do they even notice any more that you're having a flare or that your skin looks different?

Have you ever asked yourself these sorts of questions or just wondered about the answers?

Not that I have many friends that I see on a regular basis. In fact I mainly see Mark & the boys and hardly anyone else. I did wonder what my friends thought of my flare ups or even if they ever wondered how my skin was, whether I was having a good day or not. Were they being quiet because they were embarrassed with what my reply might be? Honestly you could do your head in with all of these questions and what if scenarios!

As far as I can remember I don't think any of them said anything about my skin. Either that or my memory sucks. To be honest I think my memory sucks :P

I think the quote below sums up what true friends are. No matter what we say, what we do or how we feel affects a true friendship.

A friend is one who knows us, but loves us anyway. -- Fr. Jerome Cummings

Just remember that even if you're having a hard day with your psoriasis talking about it to a friend or loved one may make a big difference. Who knows what treasures (or tips) they my hold that can help you. Hey you can even come & vent here with me. I wont mind.

Looking In The Mirror

Have you ever looked in the mirror while you're buck naked? I mean really looked? Did you like what you saw? I bet you found something that you didn't like!! I know I do if I ever catch a glimpse of myself when I've hopped out of the shower.

A good friend, and fellow P sufferer, Debi, mentioned once in chat about using a red light globe in the bathroom so that we didn't have to see our red spots or that we should cover up the mirror with a towel. I'm seriously thinking about getting a towel to cover the mirror. Not only so I don't see the spots, which at times I could care less about, but to prevent me from seeing what I think are unsightly body parts staring back at me. The love handles that look like a spare tyre, the pear shaped body that shouldn't look like so much like a pear. Oh I know I probably wont place a towel over the mirror and I am so thankful that the mirror isn't full length. In fact I am just glad that the only mirror we have in the house is in the bathroom. To me a mirror is just as bad as a camera .. you just don't need them around you to remind you of what you really look like.
Silly I know but that is just my thinking!

It truly makes me grateful that Mark doesn't worry about how my body looks. He's never said anything about it and I don't know what he thinks of it. All I know is that he loves me and for now that is all I need to know. To feel loved is a wonderful thing.

Yesterday's Travels

Yesterday we went out to do a bit of shopping (I got a few bargains I might add ~ some new fabric and sewing accessories - I'm going to learn to sew this year) and we also went to visit a 'new' friend. Well they are actually one of our next-door neighbours relatives and they are new friends of Mark's from a game called RuneScape. A game that Mark has been playing for the last couple of weeks.
Anyway we went to visit them (I'm going to call them R&B as I don't have permission to use their names on here yet) after we went shopping at Fountaingate. What a drive it was to go and see them. We went to parts of Melbourne & its outskirts I had never been to before. I didn't mind that though its always good to see new places & it got us out of the house.
While we were there I was asked twice, on separate occassions, by two of the children (now I don't know if the kids are from that family or were just visiting as there were quite a few children there) about the skin on my arms. I was prepared for questions, I usually am, and I gave a response that I had hoped would put them at ease with their curiosity and said that it was something called psoriasis, which meant my skin grew faster in some places than others. I shouldn't have worried (not that I really did) because they kids just accepted it and left it at that. In fact both R&B (the people we visited) mentioned to at least one of the children it was like what our neighbour had and like the stuff that B gets on his face.

I tell ya I just wish that ALL people were like the ones I met yesterday. After the initial curiousness they didn't care that I was covered in P. Why can't people just accept you as you are without the stares of "OMGOSh will I catch it?" Not that R&B or the children were like that but let's face it there are thousands of people out there who ARE. I tend to forget that I wear rose coloured glasses most of the time and not everyone out there is as nice as the friends & family I have. But at least yesterday showed me that there are more people out there like me who don't care that others have P. It kind of restores the faith in people.