I've got legs!!

Well I don’t blog for ages and then when I do, I start with a blog declaring I’ve got legs lol. Been a bit of a roller coaster recently health wise. A couple of weeks ago I started with a really bad blistering spell which started as a really small blister on my left thigh, which overnight progressed into a very large blister. No sooner had that one flared up, another popped up on my right thigh too. Keeping dressings to stay put is difficult at the best of times, but when they’re in difficult to bandage areas especially the thighs, it’s nigh on impossible to get them to stay up. Resorted to wearing tights to help keep them up for a day or two, because the tape I was using didn’t hold and I couldn’t find any safety pins to hold it up either. Oh well, I managed in the end... just about but couldn’t wear the tights after a couple of days as the weather kept changing rapidly from really cold like winter one day then to scortching like a sauna the next. So I couldn’t win on that score either. Eventually (well I say eventually, I mean literally within a day or 2 if that), the blister on my thigh spread down my leg onto my knee. I couldn’t walk properly because I couldn’t bend or straighten my knee, and the pain was almost unbearable. And when changing the dressings, oh my God the smell.... It made me feel sick. We had an appointment with Rebecca’s dermatologist that Thursday, so I decided to leave booking an appointment to see my GP as I probably wouldn’t have got an appointment until 6 week next Thursday lol (shouldn’t laugh I know but if I don’t laugh....). Rebecca had a couple of little blisters and had a bit of a cold bless her so she wasn’t 100% that day. The dermatologist asked how I was and I told him about my legs. He had a look at my legs and agreed I definitely needed antibiotics as it was clearly an infection and it was soon sorted out thank goodness. While at Rebecca’s appointment, we met up with my lovely good friend Tammy and her gorgeous son Wyatt at the hospital (Wyatt has non-Bullous Ichthyosis). Tammy very kindly gave me some samples of creams that she had left over from the ISG (Ichthyosis Support Group) family conference in Manchester in May. I love having goodie bags to try new creams. I’m always up for trying something new, but would like to point out that I would ALWAYS test them out on myself first before trying them on Rebecca. However, I know not all parents can do this with their children, and I’m fortunate in that respect that I can try the creams first. Here are some photos of my legs during the recent bad blistering spell. And I’ll post some after photos later in this blog so you can compare the difference.

This is my left leg when blistering, just as it was starting to spread to my knee (19th June 2012)

This is my left leg and the knee just as it was starting to dry up (21st June 2012)

This is an old photo just to so you how thick the skin usually looks on my feet. The above photos are all 'before' photos and the following photos are going to be 'after' shots of the exact same areas. Before I post the ‘after’ photos, I’d just like to explain a new routine I’ve tried. It is the first time I have ever tried this routine and would like to share with others, in the hope it will give some encouragement and hope to others with Ichthyosis. Although I must stress that what suits one person won’t always suit another, we are all different (but you don’t need me to tell you that). I learn like most people, through trial and error and for me personally this routine worked. This weekend I wanted to try the samples of creams I got from my friend Tammy, which included a couple of bath emollients etc. Now that my skin was drying out and starting to heal thanks to the antibiotics, I thought it was time to try some of them out. My new Routine First I ran a bath and added my usual Dermol 600 bath emollient. To this added some of the Doublebase Bath Addative (I also admittedly put a bit more in the is says on the bottle ooopsies - but hey if it works it works). Then I soaked in the bath for a good 45 mins to an hour until my skin was extremely soggy and white in colour (as it usually turnwet anyway for those who aren’t aware, my skin isn‘t waterproof because of the lack s white and soggy when of keratin in my skin). Then I used... wait for it... Never thought I’d use these words in the same sentence but here goes lol a pan scouring sponge (the green scouring side not the sponge side), to gently scrub off any loose skin. This is the first time in my life I have EVER used one of these. The thought of using one of these on my skin, never even crossed my mind until more recently, I read about a fellow Ichthyosis sufferer with the same type of Ichthyosis, using them on her skin with amazing results. So I decide to bite the bullet as it were, and thought go for it Mel, you can only try. So I did. I think sometimes as in this case, it’s a mind over matter thing. Sometimes your skin might just be that little bit too thick to get it all off, but if you do it gradually to start with if the skin is extremely thick and do it over the course of a few baths then it should gradually work. As with the skin of and Ichthyosis sufferer, the sponge too gets soggy so the combination of the skin being extremely soggy and the sponge being extremely soggy, results in scrubbing with the scourer to hurt less. I was actually really surprised at how little it did hurt. I scrubbed the whole of my body, and if I found it hurt a bit while scrubbing I added some of my usual ‘soap’ Dermol 500 lotion to the sponge first before scrubbing the area I was scrubbing which helped. I then used some of the Eucerin bath and shower wash with Omega, which I really like even if it does have a subtle smell of fish (which you’d expect anyway with something containing Omega). I’d apply this to my joints mainly. Once out of the bath, I applied Eucerin cream with 10% Urea in all over my body. Apart from my hands and feet. On my feet I used the Eucerin Intensive foot lotion with 10% Urea, and for my hands I tried the Eucerin Aquapohr. Once I applied the Aquaphor to my hands I put cotton gloves on for about 10-20 mins or so while the cream soaked in. I found this to be great, and it’s not as sticky as the 50/50 or Vaseline that I usually use sometimes. I know to some of you, (if not many of you) these creams etc are not new to you and you may well not have the same results, but this was so new to me. Maybe it was just one of those things I don’t know, but I’m determined to try and keep on top of this now to try and keep the thickening of my skin to a minimum. Once I get an appointment through for myself with the Dermatologist, I will be asking for some more of these creams etc. I would also like to point out that this is just me sharing my experience, and please consult your Dr or Dermatologist should you want to try this for yourself. Even moreso, if you want to try this for your child/children with Ichthyosis. Creams containing Urea are only advised to be used on children of a certain age and upwards. Here are the photos of how my skin looks now ‘after’ this routine.

My left leg as it is now after antibiotics and my new 'routine'

The back of my right knee

My left foot hardly any thick yellow scales

My left ankle Thanks so much for reading, all feedback is welcome.