Ding Dong, the Psoriasis is Gone!

Yesterday I had my one month check up at my new dermatologist (who is awesome). He brought me in to check my progress and he was as happy as I've been!! My patches of psoriasis on my elbows, legs and ears have all cleared up. The skin is a little red, but there are no plagues or giant skin flakes. Both of which are great improvements.

My dermatologist told me that he brought me in because if I'd have improved as much as he hoped I had, I needed to discontinue my ointments. Yay! I had passed the test, so instead of slathering on three different kinds of thick ointments on various body parts, I get to just use lotion. He told me that vaseline is used as a control in testing for new psoriasis medication and it works in 30 percent of the cases. So until I start to have another break out, some lotion should do the job!

My head is slightly different. (Or I should say, my scalp is slightly different.) It's so covered in hair and thicker than average skin that the psoriasis tends to be more stubborn. My scalp is about 90 percent better, but I'm still supposed to use the foam and oil until it goes away completely and at the first sign of its return.

In the mean time, I'm very very happy. I can show all of my skin again without shame. I can wear black blazers and shirts without it looking like it was snowing outside. I can get up from a meeting without leaving behind a trail of skin flakes. I need to dust off the flakes from my car just to reinforce the big difference. I know it sounds gross, because it is, but I only mention it to emphasize the bad and how good it is now.

If only my hips were at 100 percent. . .

But I'm too young to have arthritis. . .

What do Phil Mickelson and I have in common? A penchant for taking risks? A plethora of green jackets in our closet? A loved one who had breast cancer? Tired of guessing?

Psoriatic arthritis. Or at least we probably do. I haven't been to see a rheumatologist quite yet but got my first referral today after my visit to the best dermatologist ever. My psoriasis medicine from Nashville finally got used up after months of me trying to squeeze every bit out (in my defense that ointment costs a person without insurance nearly $700, so I was being more than lazy--frugal).

So I went in search of a dermatologist in LA, which is a hazardous affair considering the amount of cosmetic procedures that get done here. I wanted someone who knew their shit. And so I went to get a referral to the best place I knew: yelp. Okay so it probably wasn't the best idea to get a doctor's referral from the same place that recommended several shitty pizza places, but most insurance providers won't do it and I forgot the rate-a-doc site address.

I called last week and found the guy was booked up for a while, but was taking new patients. I called again today and BAM! Cancellation. I slipped in at 2 and for the first time in a long time wanted to kiss yelp square on the lips. Dr. Liu asked me questions about my history with psoriasis, asked me about what medications I was on, what worked, what didn't, my biggest concerns, what my previous medicine application process had been, etc. It was awesome. He spent more time with me in one visit than my previous dermatologist did in two years worth of visits. And then he asked the magic question:

"Have you had any joint issues?"

YES! YES, I have!! I had seen a physician in Nashville about my joint problems and even mentioned my psoriasis, but he just brushed me off (he tended to that unless you were a very attractive female). So I've never had a proper referral. Dr. Liu referred me to a rheumatologist and even gave her permission to view his records of me for my appointment with her. I got loaded up with 6 prescriptions for my various types of psoriasis (my old doctor used two and they never really worked) and gave me discount coupons for all my prescriptions, PLUS generic versions of everything he could. The dude saved me $40 with one prescription and at least $35 each for three more PLUS saved the insurance company.

Clearly the proof will be in the results but when I told him that I had never had a remission in my scalp psoriasis since it first happened he said "Well, I'm going to do the best I can to give you some relief." It just felt nice to be listened to, to have someone willing to above and beyond, and willing to help me. (Did I mention he gave me his personal--not office--email address to ask any questions-- PLUS he actually took a few minutes to ask about my personal life?). Seriously, there's very little this guy could do in the future to ruin this first impression.

Now to see if my hip pain is actually arthritis. While I wouldn't be excited about it, it would be nice to be able to have some relief and maybe even use a treadmill again.