Prurigo Nodularis

My curse.

I don't think any other word would fit as well as that word, for Prurigo is indeed a curse to whomever has it.
Basically Prurigo is a skin disease, one that has no cure. It isn't fatal, It isn't contagious, it's simply ugly, irritating, annoying and hated.
The condition manifests itself in little very very itchy nodules on the skin, and the result is you can't help but scratching, which end up in bleeding nodules, scars, change of skin color etc.

I have Prurigo for as long as I can remember, 18 years for sure, and I bet even more. Only 2-3 years ago was my condition diagnosed, which means I went through life going from one doctor to the next, acting mostly as their guinea pig. I can't really blame them. They tried what they knew to help me. They just didn't know about Prurigo.

So why am I writing about it now? Cause I started a new treatment - phototherapy - which I'm hoping is going to help. I do see some improvement, but it's early days yet. Basically what this therapy means is exposure to specific wavelength of light for a certain amount of time, whuch increases every time I go to be treated.
If you want to read more about it here are some links (or you can use Google to search):
Prurigo Nodularis - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prurigo_nodularis
Phototherapy - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_therapy

Wish me luck!

My Logo

I added my logo to the blog.
A little while ago I decided I needed a logo. Doesn't everyone who creates?
I love the lion image. A lion (or lioness, actually) has been a powerful symbol in my life.
I was born on July, and my astrological sign is Leo. Ever since I was a little kid I convinced myself that since I am a Leo, I need to embrace the lion's attributes. I always needed to be strong, no matter what. I used to cry in privacy, where no one can see me braking or showing weakness... I think I'm smarter now, allowing myself to show emotions when I feel them, but still the lion's image is a part of me, a part of who I am.


The clipart of the lion itself was taken from the Microsoft online clipart site, and I used Power Point to work on it, and add my name to it. And there's my logo.
I got to tell you, I absolutely LOVE it.

New Header

Following the lead of my friend Sharon, who just opened a blog of her own (http://sharon-crafts.blogspot.com/) I decided to create my own header in a scrapbook style.
Since I work a lot with digital scrapbooking, I used Digital elements, all of them are or were freebies when I downloaded them, and credits are due:
Background papers were taken from Sommer by Sara-Design;
The black doodle flower was taken from a doodle kit by Angie Briggs;
The big flower was taken from Cecily Page Kit by Pam Lefors Design;
The font used is SF Foxboro Script Extended.

Finally feeling better

So, the infection was a bad one, and didn't seem to want to leave my body. Only now it's starting to go away, and it seems I am saved from hospitalization. I hate hospitals.

So the past two weeks were really weird, with me not sleeping nights, and then sleeping full days, and to top it all I slept through the last weekend. Full two days of sleep (minus 3 hours on Friday and 4 hours on Saturday), and woke up tired! Can you believe that?

Just before I fell sick I made a few cards, and a few nights ago, in another sleepless night, I added two more... They are all birthday greetings and read Mazal Tov, which is a birthday greeting in Hebrew.

Here they are:

Escape

OK, another wonderful challenge from "All About Eve":
"What is that one place or one thing that makes you forget everything?"


Not an easy answer for me, cause there is not one thing. There are many many things for me.

Credits: Paper: Lime Daisy by Kim Smith; Overlay: Twist by Kirsty Wiseman; Two pictures from freephoto.com (roast turkey and Mazda3), both by Ian Britton; the books are different version of covers for the latest HP Book I found over the Internet, and the movies wallpapers are taken from Amazon.com.

The painting and the beaded doll are my own creations.

While I was dealing with this challenge I started wondering why is it that I have so many ways to escape... The thought that it might be because I have so much to escape from was a bit scary, but one I can obviously not ignore.

I mean, many people enjoy many things in their lives, but those things do not turn into "escapes" for them...

and me, I tend to find myself sometimes so engrossed in the things I do, that the world stops existing for a while. Isn't that the perfect escape?

Thank God For Antibiotics

It all started last week, Exactly a week ago actually, with a simple head-ache. Or, at least that's what I thought.
Over the weekend it grew and grew and by Sunday morning it had already developed into a Major Major migraine. "The migraine from hell", I called it.
I could hardly move. Everything hurt. Light, sound, movement, even the heat was against me.
Since the last migraine I had was over three years ago, my migraine pills were outdated.
So on Sunday morning I went looking for an emergency doctor appointment, for someone who could give me a prescription for my migraine pills. Luckily, I found a very nice young doctor, who gave me exactly that, after a short examination.
That afternoon I already felt a lot better, so I saw no reason to cancel the birthday plans I made for that day. Honestly - would you? My nieces were just waiting to meet with me and give me the drawings they made for me in kindergarten, and I was feeling better with the pills, so why cancel? So I went.
Truth be told, I had a great time at dinner, until my head started pounding again... and I had a lousy night after that, an even lousier day on Monday and by Tuesday I decided I need to see a doctor again. I had already finished more then half a packet of migraine pills, where usually 3 are more then enough... Besides, another worrying symptom appeared - my entire belly area got swollen, red and hard for the touch - and all overnight!!
So Tuesday afternoon I went to see my doctor.
If I could paint a picture of her face when she finally saw my belly ! She crossed out everything she wrote up until then and straightened out.
Turns out it was not a migraine at all! Turns out it's some kind of infection, one that imitates the symptoms of a migraine...
Anyways, she gave me lots of antibiotics, and an instruction to eat and drink and rest a lot.
Thank Goodness, today I feel so much better, I even went to see my niece's kindergarten play, and she was amazing!
I even fell so much better that I finally finished my LO for "All About Eve", which I will put on the next post...
Thank God for Antibiotics!!