Do you or a loved one have eczema?  Have you ever had experiences with do-gooders trying to help you with endless product suggestions?  Or have you possibly had a negative experience with stares, whispers or blunt questions or comments?  Or maybe you have had a positive experience where someone goes out of their way to let you or your loved one know how incredible they are?   I have run the gamut of experiences with my children, some amazingly beautiful and others amazingly hurtful.

Being that this disease is so very visible to the public, it is difficult to hide.  My daughters and I have received many looks and questions over the years, from well-meaning to downright rude.  A typical question would be, “Did you fall off your bike and get road rash”?  I really want to reply, (insert sarcastic tone) “Yes, she somehow managed to get road rash on almost her entire face, hands, all of her legs and feet.  It was crazy, you should have been there.”  But, I usually try to be polite and inform others to what it is my daughters have and how difficult it can be to treat.

One of the worst experiences was during a particularly bad eczema episode with my youngest daughter (who was four at the time) while we were traveling to my mother’s home and stopped at a gas station to use the restroom.  I should preface this story with one of the ways we would handle our daughter’s eczema during her bad episodes.  We will put hydrocortisone on the rash, followed by a moisturizing lotion and then socks with the toes cut out to cover up forearms.  This helped keep debris and other possible infection causing materials from getting on the skin.  This was a concern, when we would travel and be in contact with foreign places and germs.  As we walked into said gas station, a less than polite woman asked if she was a burn victim.  I felt so angry at that question, I know she really had no idea what was going on with my daughter, but in the heat of that moment all I really wanted to do was throat punch this woman.  She had violated our space, our privacy and our calm.  My daughter was used to stares and the usual questions, but not this one.  It was a legitimate question, that unfortunately was insensitive and cutting.  It made my girl question her normalcy, her beauty and her worth.  It was that day that I realized despite my deep love for her, I cannot protect her from everyone.  Fortunately, this is not the norm, but there are enough tactless people in the world to make this momma worry for the well-being of her babies.

On the contrary, one of the best experiences we have ever had was with a gentleman who was covered head to toe with tattoos and he stopped my daughter and asked her if she knew just how beautiful she is.  She replied “Yes, I do”.  That was one of the kindest, sweetest moments that has ever happened to her.  It astounds me that someone outside of our circle, took the time to remind my daughter that she is beautiful and that the self-confidence we have instilled in her is intact.  That encounter was such a blessing for her and for me.  It was remarkable.

It is my wish that you have more of the great experiences than awful ones.  But even in the awful ones, there is room to replace ignorance with information, ugliness with beauty and insensitivity with kindness.  I hope that you will share your experiences with me and with others so that we can all learn more about this disease and how it affects those who have it and the people who love those who have it.