Posted By Cathy Boyd, Special to The Londoner
Many of us are old enough to remember the commercial about, "the heartbreak of psoriasis."
It originated in a 1960s advertising campaign for Tegrin, a coal tar-based ointment to treat the affliction.
It even spawned a line from the Oscar-nominated movie Grease when Sandy says," I'm no stranger to heartbreak," and Frenchy responds, "Why? You got psoriasis?"
As a psoriasis sufferer myself I recall listening to the radio on my way to work one day. The radio announcer was about to play a song written by Cole Porter and made popular by Frank Sinatra titled, I've Got You Under My Skin. I remember distinctly the announcer saying, "well there's a site for psoriasis," a little play on words evidently with a sight for sore eyes.
Where your own sensibilities fall is a matter of personal perspective, of course. But these lines are not so funny if you happen to be one of the one million Canadians who suffer from psoriasis, a chronic, non-contagious autoimmune disease that affects the skin and joints. It commonly causes red, scaly patches to appear on the skin.
Psoriasis is an affliction difficult to deal with for people of all ages, but even more so for a young person leaving for their first year of university, a most stressful time in a young adult's life and stress being a major cause of flare ups of the skin condition.
Enter Cody McCallum, a Londoner and arts student in her first year at Queens University in Kingston, who would very much like to share her story.
Ms. McCallum has suffered most of her life with psoriasis and has managed to simply learn to live with it. She remembers as a child, "Kids would point and ask what was wrong with my skin and make fun of me. It put a damper on my self-esteem for sure."
Ms. McCallum goes on to say she attended a Catholic high school and remembers wearing a navy blue uniform and having to brush away the scales that fell on her shoulders from her scalp. She found this very embarrassing but like everything else, learned to deal with it.
Ms. McCallum along with a million others knows first hand what can't kill you can only make you stronger. And for the record, psoriasis can't kill you.
While most young adults entering first year university deal with being away and being on their own for the very first time; making the grade; fitting in; partying and discipline; Ms. McCallum has one more thing to deal with and that's the appearance of her skin and keeping her psoriasis at bay.
Ms. McCallum says as she prepared to leave her home in London to head off to Queens University, she was very nervous about how her psoriasis would impact her school-life experience. As luck would have it, in August, while working with her dermatologist, Ms. McCallum finally found a treatment that worked for her.
Prior to leaving for university, Ms. McCallum was treated with Stelara, a biologic that has worked well for her.
"I received my first biologic injection in August and my second one just before leaving for school in September. I am so excited to say that my skin has never looked better," Ms. McCallum says. "To no longer have to worry about my psoriasis and what people think is a huge weight off my shoulders during this very important time of my life."
There are many treatments for psoriasis; corticosteroids; tar compounds; ultraviolet light and biologics. Ms. McCallum describes these treatments as, "messy, inconvenient and often times not very effective."
Of course, every psoriasis sufferer is different and what works for one may or may not work for another. There is no cure for psoriasis and it's easy to become discouraged, but there are routinely new treatments on the market.
Psoriasis sufferers work with their physicians to see what options work best for them. Occasionally, simple bed rest and avoiding stress will clear up one's skin. For Ms. McCallum to have found relief for her condition is just one less stressor in her life.
Ms. McCallum says she wanted to share her story because she feels society's ignorance is a patient's biggest hindrance and no one should have to suffer in silence.
For now at least, Cody can focus on more important things at University like her classes and grades and pulling all nighters (to study for exams of course!) and that’s no joke!
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