Battling with Rosacea

kwok0926 · 发表于 2004-7-7 17:44

(A Real Life Story)
这是我第一次写文，希望大家多给意见哦！
Probably all of you are unfamiliar with this skin disorder, but Rosacea has been a common but little-known disorder of the skin which affects approximately 14 million Americans, and most of the patients don’t even know it.  A few days ago, my close friend, Maggie, called me up and told me that one of her friends, B, got this disorder a few years ago.  She then went on to tell me how B has been battling with this disorder for the past few years.  After Maggie has finished her talking, I found that I was crying over the phone because of the things being happened to B.  Actually the purpose of this story is to give all of you a glimpse of what a skin disorder if untreated can be bringing a detrimental effect on a person’s life.
The story started when B was in Grade 11.  According to Maggie’s remembrance, she recalled that her friend, B, was having a very good quality of skin ever since she knew her from kindergarten.  One day, when B was returning home from school, her mom suddenly went out from the kitchen and told B “Hey, have you noticed anything on my face, daughter?”.  Then B said “I’ve noticed that your skin is looking very shiny today!  What did you put on your face?” Her mom then asked her to sit down and told her that she went to a beauty shop and did a facial this morning.  Since B thought that her mom’s skin did look a bit smoother than before, maybe she should give it a try.  Later on, her mom scheduled a facial appointment for B, and B was happy to accept this opportunity to go to a beauty shop with her mom.

A few days later, B went to the beauty shop together with her mom.  B was bought in to a room in which a beauty technician was waiting for her.  The technician was explaining the whole facial process to B first, and then asked B to get changed and ready for the facial.  During the facial process, B said that she kept on reminding the technician that she’s feeling some pain on her skin.  But the technician just ignored her and went on to complete the whole facial process without talking to her.  After approximately an hour, the technician told B that she had finished the whole process, and B’s ready to go home.  Maggie said that B immediately borrowed a mirror and saw that her face was swelling and the color of her face had turned to mild red in color.  She screamed out and asked the beauty technician what’s going on with her face, and the technician said that B’s in normal situation and there’s nothing that she can do.  In addition, the technician told her that the swelling will disappear in a few hours, and her skin will look better tomorrow.  B then went home with her mom, but she has discovered that her face is itchy!  Later on that evening, B said that the itchiness has becoming very severe and she couldn’t sleep for the whole night.

On the following morning, B woke up early as usual because she has to go to school.  She came up to the bathroom to comb her hair and when she saw her face on the mirror, she was in great horror.  She saw that her face was still swelling, together with many small susceptible white spots all over her face.  B was hesitated to go to school immediately, but her mom told her that she’ll bring her to see a doctor after school.  B thought that it was feasible and she went on to attend the classes.  But she didn’t know that her nightmare has just started from that day, and it will never go away.

(2)
When B went to her locker to drop off her school stuff that morning, she saw her friend Grace and the first sentence Grace spoke to B wasn’t “Good morning” or “How are you, my dear” but it was “Oh, no….. B, what happened to your face today?” You are looking so terrible with those swelling and white spots.  B was very disappointed to hear that, and she replied “I don’t have mood to tell you now, I’ll talk to you later” and she disappeared from the hallway right away.  During her first class, a lot of classmates also noticed B’s problem and they all went to B’s desk to ask her.  B was feeling so annoyed, and she has told all of her classmates to sit down and get ready for the class.

B was feeling so mixed up on her mind.  She’s feeling that she must be looking very weird in front of people now, on the other hand she’s also thinking of a way to prevent people from seeing her face.  Finally she has come up with an idea – in order to prevent people from seeing her, she should try to look at her feet while she’s walking, talking, and doing other things.  In this way, there shouldn’t be any people noticing her facial features!  B has started this practice immediately after class, and all of B’s friend are wondering what’s happened to B today.

Immediately after class, B and her mom went to see their family doctor.  After the normal diagnosis, the doctor said that B was having a skin allergy.  The skin allergy was triggered by the facial treatment yesterday, and it has caused her face to have swells, lots of tiny white spots, and an itchy sensation.  The doctor then gave some anti-allergenic drugs to B, and told B not to worry about the allergy too much.  B was very happy to receive the drugs because her doctor told her that the symptoms will disappear in a few days.

B has followed the doctor’s instructions very carefully, but her conditions didn’t improve at all.  Her face was mild red in color, and the itchy sensation was still there, but most importantly, she can start to feel some heat on her face.  B was getting very worried on her face, and she’s wondering whether her allergy can be cured or not.  On the 7th day of the treatment, B was still suffering from the symptoms of allergy, and she has planned to visit her doctor once again for better solution.  After another meeting with her family doctor, she had referred B to meet with a dermatologist.

B was again very happy to meet with a specialist because she thought that the dermatologist can help her to cure the problem.  Later on, B had finally scheduled a meeting with the dermatologist, and under detail diagnosis, the dermatologist had confirmed that B did get a severe skin allergy.  As per the dermatologist’s comments, the facial technician had put on some suspected chemical agent on B’s face which had triggered this allergic breakout.  The solution is to consume some antibiotics, in addition, to start using some anti-allergenic facial gel and cream.  The whole treatment should take 2 weeks.  Again, B has been following the instructions very carefully during the treatment.  A few days later, B has started to notice that some of the redness had been disappeared, and the itching sensation has been lowered.  B was very happy and anxious to wait for her full recovery.

But she didn’t know that the road of recovery is so steep and long…………..

(3)
Times passed by very quickly, and 2 weeks have already gone by.  B was observing her face very carefully for the past 2 weeks.  Even though her face did improve a bit, but the redness, itchy sensation, and heat was still there.  Therefore, B has decided to meet with her dermatologist once again.

After another thorough checkup, the dermatologist confirmed that B has gotten a skin disorder called Rosacea because he found that B’s conditions didn’t improve after a treatment of antibiotics for 2 weeks.  He claimed that patients with normal skin disorder should be able to cure after taking the treatment for a couple of weeks.  In addition, B has several distinct symptoms of Rosacea such as redness on the cheeks, nose, and chin area; small visible blood vessels on her face; formation of some pimples, etc.  B was so shocked on that moment after the diagnosis, and she found that she was totally unable to accept this cruel reality.  On the other hand, the dermatologist also told B that this disease is currently not curable and the cause of it is unknown.  It is a mystery in the medical science field, and a lot of experimental studies are currently taking place.

B was crying immediately after hearing the above comment from the dermatologist.  She was feeling so disappointed, lonely, and uncertain on her future.  The dermatologist then gave B some other antibiotics which can lower her severity of the disease, and then B left his office with her heart broken.  B went home immediately from the dermatologist’s clinic, and she locked herself on her bedroom for the whole night without going out.  She was crying for the whole night until she ran out of energy and she felt asleep after that.

After that day, B’s personality has been changing very dramatically from an active, talkative girl to an inactive, quiet girl.  She was so quiet and sad, and her friends was trying very hard to get her speak up.  Her friends also found that B’s self esteem and confidence level have been dropped very severely after the diagnosis.  She has been showing lack of confidence during class, presentation, homework, etc and her teacher had paid a lot of attention on her.  On the other hand, B found that her academic results had been dropping very much after the diagnosis and some of her teachers had requested B to do extra homework after school.

Her parents also noticed of B’s problems and they were trying very hard to get B motivated.  But they have found that B wasn’t motivated at all and all she’s doing is to hide away from everybody.  She’s becoming moody and emotional, and she’s fiery at one time and became very calm at the other time.  On the other hand, she has also refused to engage in any social gatherings from her friends and family members.  Everybody started talking about B, and B has found that she’s experiencing the most difficulties ever on her own life, school life, and private life.

She’s struggling very hard on her mind for a few months, and she’s trying her best to walk away from those obstacles slowly.  But she didn’t know that another big challenge is approaching her slowly.
4)At that time, the final exam period had been coming up for B.  B was getting poor results from her subjects when she headed to the final exam period, but she had no plans to rescue her marks.  She was holding her textbooks all the times, but actually she was daydreaming rather than studying.  B’s mother noticed this problem as well, but she had no clue to motivate her daughter and she was very worried on B’s school results as B will be heading to her final year of the high school program 4 months later.  In case B couldn’t get good results on her final year of study & the provincial exams, then her chances to enter the university will be very slim.  B’s mother had urged her daughter to look for a tutor, but she has refused to hire one immediately after proposing.

The final exams had finally taken place a month later, and B was very busy studying while still struggling on her mind.  A week later, B had finally finished her exams and she’s heading to the summer break.  B knew that her final exam results won’t be good, and she had requested her mom to let her go to summer school for some make up subjects.  The final report card was issued two weeks later, and B was getting so-so results on all of her subjects.  B’s parents were very worried on B’s future because her chances to enter university next year will be truly very deem.

B was very upset on her school results as well but she’s decided not to think of it anymore.  In addition, her summer school term is started and she was very busy studying again.  One day when B was heading back home, her mom told her that she had to return to Hong Kong for a month because there were some personal matters for her to clear up.  B said ok to her mom, but her mom was worried about B as she’ll be living alone for a month.  A week later, B was going to the airport with her cousin, together with her auntie.  While B’s mother was heading to the airport departure section, her auntie was busy talking to B on her final exam results.  B’s auntie was one of her mom’s relatives, but their relationship was not close at all.

When B was preparing to leave with her cousin, B’s auntie suddenly approached B and said “B, how come you don’t go back to Hong Kong with your mom?” B was ignoring her auntie’s question, but her auntie’s next sentence left her in great astonishment.  Her auntie has told B “B, I heard that your school results this year was not good at all.  I’m wondering why your sister has been so good in studying, but you’re not.  I think what you should do is to learn from your sister, and don’t be so stupid in studying on September as you’ll be heading to University next year.  You know, my son is heading to University next year for sure, and I don’t want you to enter college without getting a chance to enter University for your whole life.”  B was stunned for a while when she heard this comment from her auntie, but she was wondering whether she had got the whole message correctly.

A few minutes later, B was walking towards the parking lots and her cousin popped up and asked B a question.  “B, did you hear what Auntie Ling was saying to you a while ago?  How come she’s so sarcastic & mean on you?  Whether you can enter University or not is none of her business and she cannot say those things to you!  B was heart broken once again and she replied to her cousin “Every person has his/her rights to speak and I cannot prevent her from saying so.”

But inside, B has decided to pay revenge to her auntie.
(5)
On that night, B went to her cousin’s house to have dinner.  During dinnertime, her cousin brought up the subject again, and they started to discuss the issue for a while.  B had confirmed that she didn’t misunderstand the meaning of the words, and she had decided to call her father in Hong Kong.  B’s father was very angry & emotional when he heard what Ling was telling his daughter, but he had tried his best to calm down B.

B was very sad when she went to bed on that night, and she couldn’t sleep well once again.  She was thinking deeply what she should do in order to prove to Ling that she’s a capable person.  After a while, B figured out that the only way to prove her value is to work hard on Grade 12.  If she can enter University next year, then Ling should literally be very disappointed!!!  On that night, B had made the biggest decision on her young life that she’s going to earn an admission letter to one of the best Universities in Canada.

In the next morning, B was wake up by her mother’s long distance call.  B’s mother was trying to comfort B, but B had told her parents calmly that she’s going to work hard next year and she’s going to prove to everybody that she’s a capable person with a good future.  Her parents were very happy to receive the news, and they hope that B can think ahead and forget all the unhappiness in the past.

After that day, B has been making significant improvements on her ways of studying and attitudes.  She has become a responsible, active, and cooperative student.  One month later, B finished her summer school with excellent results.  On the other hand, B is finally headed to her final year of studying in high school.  B’s recent changes have been noticed by a lot of people, including her teachers and classmates, and they were all very happy to offer a hand to help B.

B was studying really hard on her courses and homework, and it has caused B to have less rest in the evenings.  In addition, she was very intense after school.  Her parents were trying to ask B to relax because they were afraid that high pressure would increase B’s chances of the re-occurrence of her skin disorder.

One day when B was working very hard on her homework, she has noticed that her face was having the burning sensation again.  She ran to the washroom immediately, and she has discovered that her face was mild red again, with some itchiness too.  She then took some medications and went to bed afterwards.

In the next morning, B woke up and she saw that her face was having flare ups again.  She was very worried about her face, but she can’t locate any time to meet with her dermatologist as she’s having the mid-term exams at that moment.  She thought that taking some anti-allergenic drugs should help to lower her flare ups this time, but she didn’t know that it would make her so embarrassed in front of her classmates
(6)
B was taking the anti-allergenic drugs for a consecutive of 7 days, but on the 8th day, her skin condition still hasn’t been improved.  Her face was still mild red in color, with both heat and itchiness.  B was started to worry on her face again, and she didn’t sleep well for a couple of days.  One day when she woke up in the morning, B felt that her face on the left hand side was very hot and she ran to the washroom to figure it out.  When she saw her face on the mirror, B was very terrifying as she saw that her face on the left was red while her face on the right was normal!

B was planning to skip school on that day, but her mother had urged her to attend the classes and exams.  When B was stepping into the school, a lot of people were taking a look at her face and said “What happened to B today? How come her face is looking so weird with half red and half normal?” B was once again heartbroken and she was planning not to talk to anybody.

When B was attending her first class, all of her classmates were watching B’s face very carefully.  One of B’s classmates suddenly approached B’s desk and said “B, what’s going on with your face today? Do you know that you’re looking very funny? I’ve never seen anybody who looked like you before.” B was so embarrassed at that moment, and she couldn’t speak anything to defend herself.

B didn’t speak to her classmates at all for the whole day, and when she had finished all of her classes, she met with her dermatologist once again.  Her dermatologist told B that she’s having another outbreak of Rosacea on her face, and she is highly recommended to control her emotional level in the future.  B then knew that pressure would increase her chances of future flare ups.  Once again, the dermatologist has given B with some antibiotics to lower the symptoms.

B was taking the treatment very carefully again, but she had discovered that her skin didn’t return to normal after 7 days.  B was very worried about her face, and on the other hand, B’s parents were trying very hard to locate a good doctor for B.  One day, when B and her mother were shopping on a mall, a male was asking B to stop walking for a while.  Then the guy was introducing himself and he told B that he’s a TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) practitioner in Canada.  B and her mother were wondering whether TCM would help B or not, but B had decided that she would like to give it a try.

B then went to the TCM shop to meet with the practitioner, and after the diagnosis, the practitioner had told B that her health is not good at all.  In addition, she’s getting a severe skin allergy.  The practitioner then asked B to watch out her diet very carefully, because certain foods may trigger her future flare ups.  Then he wrote the herbal prescription and asked B to come back to visit him in a week.

After that, B was taking the herbal prescriptions continually, and B found out that her skin had returned to normal after a month’s therapy.  B was very delighted to see her skin had been slightly improved, but the practitioner had told B that she’s required to receive the therapy for a few years before the Rosacea can be controlled.  B was wondering whether TCM can help her to cure the skin disorder in a few years time.
(7)
During her final year of study in high school, B was very busy studying while taking the herbal prescriptions.  A lot of people told B that her skin conditions did improve significantly after a few months of therapy.  B was very happy to know that TCM can help her to lower the symptoms of the skin disorder, but she needs to take the prescriptions for a few more years.  On the other hand, B was very worried about her academic results.

B knew that pressure would increase her chances of Rosacea outbreak, and she had tried her best to relax while studying.  A few months went by, and B was facing one of her biggest challenges in high school – which is, writing the provincial examinations.  B realized that if she gets good results from this examination, then her chances of getting into University would be very high.  B tried her best to write the examinations, and she hope that she can earn herself an admission letter onto one of the top universities in Canada.

Another month has gone by.  One morning, when B woke up and checked the mailbox of her house, she saw that she had two letters – one from the Examination Board of the province, and the other one from the University.  B knew that her report card was there, and she was so eager to take a look at it.  When she opened her report card, she was so shocked to know that she’s getting very good results from the provincial examinations! Then she opened the other letter, and she saw that she’s been admitted to one of the best universities in the country.

B was extremely happy on the good news, and she thought that she had proven to her auntie that she’s a capable person with a good future.  Then she told her parents on the acceptance letter, and they were happy to know that B was admitted to the Faculty of Science in Microbiology.  Later on, B had her high school graduation ceremony and she’s looking forward to start her new life in the University.

B was once again working very hard during her stay at the University.  In the meanwhile, she was receiving the herbal preparation from the TCM practitioner continually. Four years later, B graduated from the University and she had become a well-trained Microbiologist working in a renowned hospital in Canada.

Basically that’s the whole story of B’s battle with Rosacea.  B has been very successful to combat this terrible skin disorder, and on the other hand, she’s also working very hard to change her life.  I hope that this story can bring your awareness to the fact that if you’re ignoring some illnesses on your body while left untreated, it may trigger a lot of negative effect (i.e. physiological, psychological, mental, etc) on a person’s life.  If you’re in doubt of any health problems, you’re strongly advised to meet with your doctor as soon as possible.

[此贴子已经被朝暮于2004-8-29 15:08:55编辑过]

青奚 · 发表于 2004-7-19 15:01

B为什么不去控告美容院或者美容师？美国人不是特别喜欢打官司吗？妆姐姐，你帮我把上面的句子译成英文好不好？我对着屏幕五分钟也没写出来啊！汗！我英语阅读还行，写作就一塌糊涂！

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