Friday, February 28, 2014

12.5 month update pictures

Today is about the 12.5 month mark.  I didn't get a chance to do a full body pictures show for my 1 year anniversary, so this is a bit overdue.  I continue to have the occasional mini-flare here and there.  This past week I had some itching on my hands only in a few spots and some irritation show up on my chin.  Otherwise no oozing whatsoever. I noticed my hands started feeling a whole lot better this week.  The swelling is gone, but the irritation and sores remain.  My hands remind me of my ankles....my ankles have had sores on them for months but not really flaring except for once in a great while.  This week I noticed a lot of the sores finally starting to shrink and heal.  My clear areas remain clear. Neck feels amazing!  Face has the occasional dry or irritated area mostly chin and nose. Back is almost all clear....the white/pink patches are the healed areas that do not tan well in the tanning booth.  Only a few very small sores on lower back nearly healed now.  Nothing really itches except my hands and sometimes my ankles. Otherwise I feel great. No pain, no swelling, no insomnia! I know I could potentially flare....that sticks in the back of my mind.  But given I've gone 5 months now without any full body flaring, and my mini-flares decrease in length of time and area affected, I think my regimen of MW, supplements for MTHFR genetic mutation, healthy eating, and tanning have done what I hoped they would....decreased severity of symptoms and radically decreased my potential time of TSW.  I looked back on my blog today and realized just how far I've come!  I am so beyond thankful for my healing....all thanks go to God for showing me the way.  I am thankful to finally have my life back.  I don't think about my skin too much anymore....except my hands only because they are the last area that needs healing and I use them all day long,so it's hard not to think of them. But the rest of my body is great...I give no thought to what I wear or whether I can go out or not due to the state of my skin.  My hands keep me from working still as I don't want to go backwards with them again, but I'm currently looking for a position where I will not have to use my hands as often.

So here are those pics:


Me looking not so hot this morning before coffee!  Just a few irritated areas here and there...no oozing or swelling.


Left hand....swelling and redness nearly gone...right hand is the same.


Right ankle area improving slowly


Same with left ankle area. Feet however doing very well.


Rest of my legs perfectly clear with white, smooth skin.


Neck continues to look and feel great....this was by far the worst area throughout my TSW.  It is so nice to finally have it feel normal!


Back doing very well minus the few remaining sores on left lower area.  


Right inner arm discolored from the healing and tanning. Small left over irritated areas...they are nothing really and only itch maybe once a day if that.

2 comments:

  1. Hi tracy!
    I'm Johanna (maybe I've commented on here before I don't know hehe). I'm 2 months in TSW and wow it's been hell , I'm sure u can imagine. I'm thinking of doing mw as well, my skin just get worse now as soon as I apply anything on it. But my concern is my face: can I do mw on my body but put some oil on my face? Or is it better to stop cold turkey with M? And I don't have a bathtub is that going to be a 'problem'? Is it ok with just showers? Wow many questions, hope you have time to reply...
    Thank you !

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    Replies
    1. Hi Johanna,
      Sorry you, like so many others, have to deal with this horrid TSW! I have seen people do both...cold turkey, and MW on different parts of the body at different times. For me, I went cold turkey on the majority of my body - except my neck. That was my worst painful area throughout my ordeal. I had to wait to do MW on my neck for another month or so until I had the will and the time to do nothing at all for 4-5 days. I would suggest MW on the large areas of your body least affected by MW and save the worst areas for last if going MW on your whole body scares you,
      As for the tub/shower thing. For me taking dead sea salt baths or even plain water baths were torture for me....the water always burned. Now with MW, I no longer need a bath as my skin is very strong even though I still have excoriated areas. I noted that when I used more water on my skin, the skin became softer and more macerated. So in my experience, too much water was detrimental. So showers or quick washes in the tub do well for me.
      As for oil on your face, I have heard that Jojoba oil is really close in nature to the actual oils our skin produces. I bought some and have used a small amount here and there on cracked areas that hurt - it actually doesn't cause a reaction like I've had with any other oil or moisturizer....I get no blisters or macerated skin. I may use a bit more here and there to experiment with but for now I literally use a 1-2 drops every few days if that. I also know some people have good results with coconut oil.
      Let me know if you have any more questions!

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