Like a Freakin' Miracle

 It is like a freakin' miracle. And instead of being excited I am so terrified that it is a fluke and we are going to be back to where we were.

The last time I wrote about The Phi's eczema she was about to start light therapy. She went thorough about 3 months worth of treatments. Twice a week we took her for her dose of UV-B. You can see a session from The Phi's perspective by clicking here . About half way though her treatments she began to experience pain when taking a bath. It was like I was dipping her in acid. There was so much crying, screaming and it was emotionally exhausting for all of us. It was a daily battle we fought because she had to bathe. So I stopped the light treatments. Her skin was still so blotchy and red and her itchiness was at an all time high. Nothing was helping and I could not deal with her hurting in the bath. Just the mention of bath time brought tears. My theory was that the light therapy had given her a severe sun burn and her skin was sensitive to water. I hoped that with time her skin would heal so if we could get back to just the eczema and not the pain I would be happy.

A month after we had stopped the light therapy we were still experiencing the painful baths. So I broke down and I used steroid lotion mixed with vasoline on her after a bath one night. The next morning it was like a miracle occured. Her skin looked so much better.

So why hadn't I used the steroid lotion earlier you ask? Well I had given up on steroid lotion a long time ago. We had been using it for her eczema since she was about 1 year old with no results. It never worked and instead doctors kept prescribing stronger doses and instead of getting rid of her rashes it was discoloring her skin. Her hands and feet were starting to lose the color pigment in them. And of course I can't see what if any damage it was doing to her liver. That's why I stopped.

This time just one application and it worked. After just a few days her skin looked the best it has ever looked. Amazing smooth, skin toned skin. The Phi is no longer itchy and he skin feels like skin and not sandpaper. Like I said it is a freakin' miracle. I mean look at the before and afters. It is like my prayers have been answered but at night I still pray. I am still terrified and I pray that it doesn't come back.

The other day when she stepped into the bathtub she made a noise. I immediately asked "Does it hurt?" and she laughed and said "No Mom it feels nice and warm".