This winter of my discontent reminds me of my last health crisis about seven years ago when the scourge of psoriasis inhabited me. I had to take oatmeal baths twice a day to combat the itch and wear gloves and socks to bed so I wouldn't scratch myself bloody at night. I walked around town 70% covered in my short sleeves and shorts eliciting looks of surprise, disgust, and sympathy and I didn't care. I had a tense look of dis-ease and stress on my face at all times and felt weak and helpless. When friends urged me to see a doctor I said why bother, it's incurable. I finally looked online but just to see what famous people had it: Tom Waits, Art Garfunkle, John Updike, some beautiful model, and others. I found various moisturizers, tried some of them and got temporary relief. I looked up causes of psoriasis flareups and alcohol came up often. I remembered that two weeks before I had gotten so drunk I found myself with a compact naked co-ed sprawled across my lap in a strip club in Eugene after a night of carousing with a friend.
I finally decided to see the top skin doc at UC Davis. She wanted me to take harsh drugs for the rest of my life, Methotrexate or Humira — there was a 40% chance it would help me a lot within four months. It would cost $25,000 a year and I would have to have an annual liver biopsy and inject myself twice a month, one side effect was lymphoma. My first thought was no way, that is not me, but then I went home and thought about it, wondering if my insurance would cover it. It seemed like a horror show but what to do? Then I remembered the vegan dermatologist in Fortuna a friend had recommended, Dr. Jack Guccione — he and his wife worked as a team. I went in, he made me a vegan for six months, and prescribed sunning myself twice a week on my deck, twenty minutes each side. He gave me some skin cream to finish the deal. Two months later my skin cleared up and I never went back — seven years later I think I should stop by and say thanks doc.
(Lesson: Always go in and always get a second opinion.)
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