She vowed to never scratch her head, to never wear black, and to remember to brush her shoulders off every five minutes. "Unfortunately," she says, "I was obsessed with scratching my head; I thought I looked great in black; and I always forgot to brush my shoulders." When she stood up after class, she would leave flakes behind on her desk and the floor. "It was embarrassing," she recalls.
In the years after she finished college, more symptoms appeared: patches on her face and body, pits in her nails, and arthritis in her knee. Kathe went to a dermatologist and was diagnosed with psoriasis. She tried using topical medications on her skin, but her psoriasis was so extensive that they weren't very practical. For several years she used UV light therapy, which she found inconvenient and time-consuming but that worked well. By the time she was in her mid-20's, Kathe had severe arthritis in her knee. It swelled up so much sometimes that she couldn't see her foot, and she had to have fluid drained from it regularly. She was forced to give up exercising and sports, activities that she loved. Eventually, she had surgery on her knee that allowed her to be a bit more active. The exercise helped ease the pain and swelling further.
When changes in her health insurance made the UV treatments very expensive, she briefly used commercial tanning beds as an alternative [some dermatologists believe commercial tanning beds are an acceptable alternative for those who cannot access medical-grade UV lights, but there is disagreement on this issue]. However, she was wary of exposing her skin to so much UV radiation. Two years ago, she switched to a biologic medication, which has dramatically improved her skin and nails, and may have also aided her return to her former physical lifestyle--biking, hiking, and jogging regularly.
For Kathe, living well with psoriasis has been as much about her outlook as about finding the right medical treatment. When her skin symptoms and her arthritis were at their worst, Kathe got into a "funk." She tried to ignore people when they stared at her or made comments, but it was hard. "My self esteem was at an all-time low," she says. 
Then she began working at an agency that assists people who are blind. Her clients and many of her co-workers were blind and didn't know she had psoriasis unless she told them. "They saw the person I was on the inside, which made me realize that I needed to focus more on that aspect of myself and not consume myself with what was on the outside," she says. Plus, she found it inspirational to be around people who were living full lives in spite of their blindness. "I realized that psoriasis doesn't define who I am," she says, "and therefore it should not control my life."
Kathe still has some psoriasis, so it is never far from her mind, but it is no longer a major factor in her daily life. She goes to the beach, wears short sleeved shirts, and figures that if somebody sees her psoriasis and has a problem with it, that it is their problem, not hers. She has a good social life and is currently involved in a relationship. "If you meet the right person, they're not going to care what issues you have with your skin," she says. "They'll look deeper than that." Kathe wants to raise awareness about psoriasis. Even though it is a common condition, people who have it often feel very alone, she says. Also, she believes that with better information, people would be less likely to react fearfully or make insensitive comments when they encounter someone with it. "I do get looks; people definitely look at you when you have it," she says, "but I'm not ashamed to tell them I have psoriasis."
###
Join us for Short Sleeve Days, Sept. 12-14, 2008. And check out our 2008 Psoriasis Cure Now Video Contest.
© Copyright 2007-08 Psoriasis Cure Now. All rights reserved. Home | About Us | Volunteer | Write to Congress | Donate | Privacy | Contact Us
