Candy Fu's Eczema story
Read these other fellow eczema sufferers stories
Hi, my name is Candy Fu and I have had eczema ever since I was born.
Before, it was just some tiny spots on where the skin meets (behind the knee, behind the elbow, armpits etc.). When I was 1-5 years old, my eczema had no affect on me.
When I was 6, more spots were found on my body, and they were getting itchy. I remember my mom telling my school teachers that I cannot sit down on the gym floors because they were all dusty and dirty, so I get to sit on the chairs all the way through to grade 5. When I got to grade 6, everything worsened.
It was probably my hormones kicking in. My body was all red, itchy and bloody. I couldn't sleep at night at all. I remember showering in hot water for 30 minutes because it was so itchy and painful, even though I know that if I showered in hot water it'll make my skin worst. I've missed a lot of days of school and it was hard catching up because I couldn’t concentrate. In the summer, I've went back to Hong Kong and I've completely healed. I swam in the sea and the salt had fight off all the bacterias and the humidity in Hong Kong was very high so it kept my skin mosturized.
When I got back to Canada in grade 7, my skin got even worse than before, I couldn't even turn my head properly because of the pain in my neck. My whole body was red, flaky, itchy and painful. I couldn't sleep at all at night and I couldn't stay awake in the day. My mom tried to put gloves on me at night so I wouldn't scratch but they somehow would just come off, even when they're tied on. I was always sad and crying because I see others wearing t-shirts and shorts while I cover everything up with hoodies, long pants and scarves. I had always felt cold too, I would shiver all the time even when everyone else thinks it was hot. My head had a lot of flakes too, which makes other people think that I just don't wash my hair.
My mom had tried a lot of treatments on me. Including spreading yogurt all over me, chinese medicine, western medicine, do more exercise or just rest a lot. None of them worked. My doctors had told me to not eat a lot of food, including beef, milk, mushrooms, chicken, some types of fish, shellfish and many more. I had basically no choice of food left except for pork and some vegetables.
The next summer I went back to Hong Kong again. This time the doctor told me to not swim in the sea and my eczema had never healed. For 2 months, I had to drink chinese medicine everyday, and wash myself in the medicine too. I didn't go out much and my self esteem went very low. I would feel so sad at home that I would actually want to die.
Grade 8 started went I went back to Canada and my eczema worsened again. I went to see an allergy specialist to find out what I was allergic to. Turns out I was allergic to my own cat, which I had owned since grade 3. We moved our cat out to another house, because we still love her, but we wanted to keep her out for a while. My eczema still stayed so it turns out that it was probably not my cat's fault. By December 2007, my skin was still in bad shape, but I've found an expensive but helpful doctor that helped me. He taught me to use brown sugar mixed into hot water to wash my body after a quick rinse in the shower and to eat an allergy pill when I get itchy, so I wouldn't get new spots on my skin. I tried the brown sugar mix for a few months and now my eczema is under control. I also go do facials so my face would clear up faster. I can wear shorts and t-shirts out whenever I want, but I still get my bad days where my skin gets kind of itchy, but at least I can enjoy more of my life now.
Through all this struggle, I have learned patience. All this time, I have went from doctor to doctor to find a cure and now, I can enjoy life even if I still have small spots on myself. I would like to thank my whole family, especially my mom because she had been with me the whole time and supporting me.
