1989
What an iconic year.
Some pop star named Taylor Swift happened to be born. A wall came down… I believe it was in Germany, something called the Berlin Wall. Oh and I happened to be diagnosed with atopic dermatitis aka chronic eczema.
You’re probably thinking, hmm why is your blog called Itchin Since ’87 when you were diagnosed in ’89? Well, like my soul, it’s as if I’ve had eczema since I was born. Besides I like the year ’87 better! Who else is going to defend my last name in one of the worst stock market crashes of all time? (Just a little side note my last name is Wall and I’m referring Wall Street when the Stock Market crashed in ’87)
Ok back to ’89. I was two. Now most two year olds are moody sons of bees. We walk the walk, talk the talk and don’t take no for an answer. Apparently, some people never grew out of this phase.
There I was, being a normal two year old. When my mother noticed a patch. Well that patch turned out to be a little rash on my inner thigh. No big deal right? Slap some lotion on that sucker and keep it moving. After all, two year olds are prone to all types of issues.
Just to be safe, we went to the doctors. The doctor said, “Oh, its just baby eczema. I’ll prescribe a cream and it should clear right up.”
In the words of The Who, “Lies, Lies… la la la la la la lies.”
Like an uncontrollable wildfire, my baby eczema began to spread all across my body. The more it spread the worse it had become. It was a vicious cycle. Itching – scratching – rash – blood. Itching – scratching – rash – blood. Lots of blood. Bad Blood. WTF was happening to me? My skin was flaker than a friend ditching you to watch a Game of Thrones marathon.
So back to the doctors we went. This became our routine. We even ventured to different states in a quest to find a cure for this “baby eczema.”
Alas, we found a doctor who said the dreaded words, “Well it looks like your daughter has the chronic form of eczema called Atopic Dermatitis. Unfortunately there is NO CURE.” Of course at the time I had no idea what that meant. So I looked over at my mom who tried to hide her sheer panic. But it was written all over her face. Pure heartbreak.
As we drove home from the doctors office my mothers face resembled that of a blank space. All she heard was NO CURE.
She tried to shake it off, but the news to too heavy. She contacted family members asking if anyone had eczema. After all eczema is hereditary. Sadly, the response was no.
Thus began my life with eczema.
Like Taylor Swift my skin turned out to be a star. It too, had staying power and was gawked at everywhere I’d go (although in completely different ways). An like the Berlin Wall my skin turned out to be a symbol of oppression. A heavy barrier controlling my everyday life. (Skip the part in real life where the Berlin Wall came down. Oh and Germany is pretty much dominating the EU right now.)
1989.
The year I found out just how terrible the twos really were.
Extra Credit
-1989 is the year of the snake. Makes sense because my skin sure as hell shed like one.
-The italicized words are song titles to Taylor Swifts 1989 album.
-I spent about 2 days trying to figure out if the correct terms was “grew out of this phase” or “grow out of this phase”. I’m still confused.
-Don’t get me started on the phase and faze. I get those confused too! And yup, english is my first language.