Auntie - What is Psoriasis?

Psoriasis is a chronic disease with no known cure. In my life of living with psoriasis, I must say, one of my greatest achievement was being a “Super Aunt.” I recall the days even when my psoriasis was so bad, I would pick up my nieces and nephews to spend time with my children and I was literally covered in plaque psoriasis from my head to my toes. I always allowed them to ask me any questions and I would explain things to them, so they would understand.

Being honest with family about psoriasis

I remember when one of them was 5 years old asking me what was on my skin? I couldn’t hide all these flakes on me, so they were curious. One of them was a thumb sucker and she would be sucking her thumb and rubbing her fingers across my plaques and asking me if it hurt? I would always be honest with kids about my condition and not try to sugar coat it. It was just hard to explain it to a 5-year-old. This was probably from the stares and points I had got from people for twenty years previous and having to say you can’t catch it. I always try to build up a good relationship with my nieces and nephews. I know I had to be honest with them; suppose one day they got psoriasis? Would I want them to ever be ashamed of it? Of course not.

Talking about psoriasis with my nieces and nephews

We are taught in this world not to be cruel, mean or treat people ugly that are different from us. My nieces and nephews never looked at me any differently; I was just Aunt Diane. I have always told them to ask me anything, which they did. This gave them a good understanding of what psoriasis is. I would tell them it’s not contagious and I do have medication that works sometimes. I always try to tell them that my disease is not like catching a cold, you won’t catch what I got.

Getting help from family

I recall my scalp had a real bad case of plaque psoriasis and I had the comb in my hair scratching the scabs profusely. My dear niece took the comb from me, went and got the big jar of hairdressing and began to oil my scalp. I thought that was so sweet. If I had not explained to her over the years what I had, this would have never happened. I would have never had this moment with her which I have cherished for 30 years now. The lessons learned here are that we are taught to not look at people differently.

Spending important time with my loved ones

My nieces and nephews showed me love even when I was covered from head to toe in scales. They loved me unconditionally and it helped me through some of my worst moments. I enjoyed cooking for them, taking them shopping and talking with them. Out of nowhere, my niece said Auntie, “How many psoriasis do you have?” I told her that it would take too long to count them all. She said I can. I thought that was so funny. I did not allow her to count them; believe me, it was too many. Only a child could be so thoughtful and kind.

Getting unconditional love from my family

My greatest take away is simply this, our loved ones, especially kids loved us as we are. They don't see differences that make them cringe. They do see that we loved them, and it doesn't matter if I have psoriasis or not. Therefore, we can easily take away how powerful the force of love is no matter what. Psoriasis can be very stressful as it is, but having your family and friends see you dealing with your disease with boldness and good opinion of one’s self is a great lesson for all of us.