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Monday, August 10, 2009

My Eczema Condition

I have recently embarked on a new (well, not quite) quest - to get myself healthy again and to be able to do the things I have not been able to do. Most of you know that I have eczema - a condition that makes my skin very dry, inflammed and very, very, very itchy. I know many people have this condition, but for me it is ACUTE - not that that there is anything cute about it. In fact it gets so bad on some days that I do not even want to leave the house. The itch gets so unbearable and I have to scratch. Each time I scratch, my skin becomes worse. It is a Catch-22 situation and it ain't funny.

I have had eczema ever since I was little. I remember that I had asthma as a child and my skin condition was somehow linked to this. Maybe my immune system was weak. Maybe it was genetic. Maybe my condition worsened because of mis-diagnosis by the incompetent doctor(s) who treated me and the lousy medical treatment I received from them. A lot of maybes. I know I am starting to sound bitter but can you blame me? For over 35 years I have been suffering.... Many times I have asked myself "Why me? Why am I made to suffer?". I have on occassion "tarok" some irritating people (in particular the "insensitive husband" who should know better than to assume that everyone is in the pink of health) by accusing them of "not understanding how I felt." Touche!

A few weeks ago, I received a call from Mrs Ong, client and friend, telling me that she was feeling better after her "spa" or hydrotherapy sessions at home. It was not too long ago that she herself was suffering from lupus, an auto-immune illness which causes the cells in the body to react against itself. I could sense that she too felt terrible on those times that we met up or spoke over the phone. She was lacking energy, her joints hurt and she was itching all over. And now, here she was sounding so full of zest and she wanted me to know that she was feeling so much better after she started her home spa sessions. And this is how it started for me....

Like any normal person, I was skeptical. I had been to so many doctors (western and TCM) and specialists in JB and Singapore, tried so many different creams, lotions, medicines, steroids, herbs, vitamins, health supplements. You name it and most probably I had tried it. None seemed to work for long. Yes, my skin would improve at first but then it would worsen and each time I would feel so disillusioned about ever getting better. Along the way, the "insensitive husband" would pass some callous remark about me not doing enough to bring about a change in my condition. Excuse me??? Did I marry a guy who was brain dead or did he really know what I needed to do ie. detox and flush the liver and kidneys to remove kidney/liver/gall stones, toxins and parasites and what have you that was clogging up my body and making the symptoms appear on my skin? Yadda, yadda, yadda .... We all know that talk is easy, especially when you are not the one suffering from an unbearable skin condition. To be fair, he did read up and trawl the internet for information, something he is really good at. Hey, have to give the "fat boy" some credit since he is writing this blog of mine.

Anyway, back to the story. I was really glad to hear that Mrs Ong was feeling so much better. Certainly this home spa appeared to be more than just a spa. After all, wasn't a spa someplace we went to unwind and pamper ourselves rather than for healing. So off I went to meet her to hear about this miraculous change that she was experiencing ...... to be cont'd