#TakeControl

A year ago today I saw my dermatologist for the first time and after looking me over he told me I had a rare skin disease called pityriasis rubra pilaris. . Thankfully he wrote it down for me. I didn’t realise at the time how impressive it was for him to diagnose me so quickly. Last year I lost control of so many parts of my life. It wasn’t all down to the PRP, another reason was the job I started last year. Although I did, and still do, love the job,it meant I spent 3 days of most weeks living out of a hotel in Newcastle, the other side of the country. Then there was the slow and painful breakdown of a ten year relationship. While the PRP and me being away contributed to the end of the relationship, they wern't the only factors.

So what did I loose control of?

• My appearance
• My time (most of it seemed to be driving between blackpool and newcastle, or going to the hospital)
• My personality “This disease can eat away at your personality.  You can become too tired to engage with people and when you do, you can end up only talking about your symptoms.”(from my blog Wednesday, 3 June 2015)
• The clothes I could wear. I spent most of the last year in the cheapest primark t shirts I could get because the creams I put on meant I had to bin them after a wearing them a couple of times.
• Where I slept. Part of each week was in a hotel room and the rest of the time I was in the spare room because of the amount of skin I was shedding.

You get the idea. So that was 2015. Now we are well into 2016 and my skin seems to be well on the way to recovery. I have moved into a flat in Newcastle and I am doing everything I can to retake control of my life. I have taken control of my appearance by going to the gym for the first time in years. I've lost over a stone in the last 5 weeks. I am taking control of my health by emailing the staff at the local hospitals dermatology department. This has meant that instead of waiting till august for an appointment, I now have an appointment in 2 weeks time. Anyway, thats my mantra for the time being #TakeControl