You would think that masks would have been my friends this past year, hiding my appearance from inquiring eyes. On the contrary. If you’ve ever wondered what that stuff feels like, it is like one of those horribly painful sunburns where even the softest silk feels like sandpaper against your skin – where simply moving is agony – where you absolutely positively do not want some smart aleck little brother to come along and slap you for the sheer enjoyment of your misery. Trying to wear a raspy mask over psoriasis is actually quite painful.
Despite how much this looks exactly like one of my drawings, it is actually borrowed from the internet.
Americans are very polite about something like this. Nobody pointed at me and shouted, “Eww, that’s grody to the max!” In fact, they said nothing. If I brought up my appearance, though, they would jump in with tons of questions and healthy curiosity. Speaking as the resident weirdo, insults aren’t nice, but saying “Hey, what happened?” is perfectly fine. It’s OK to ask questions. The elephant in the room knows it’s there.
Getting to wear my unique gift from God on my face has made things harder when it comes to business. It is difficult to approach people with confidence and try to introduce them to my work. It is also more difficult to get a service sector job where you are the face of a business. While no one will admit that “fugly” is the reason for not hiring you, you will simply find that someone else always gets the job.
Have I tried medical care for dealing with this condition? Yes. The doctor charged me $300 for a 5 min consultation. Her advice? Hydrocortisone. Mmm hmm…Yup, I am definitely in the wrong line of work.
At least Real Life Toby doesn’t care about how I look.
Mom, mostly I look at you from this angle, and all I see is up your broken nose.
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Royal Purple Velvet Pillows are now back in stock! These 10″ pillows would make a wonderful gift for the whimsical child in your life – or the whimsical child inside yourself! Each pillow is trimmed with gold braid and has a silky tassel at each corner. The center is secured by two matching fabric buttons which give the pillow a pleasingly plump look.
These pillows and other fine gifts are available from my shop at L Bowman Studios. All items are made in America and ready to ship.
The Adventures of Bitey Dog 
I’m sad to hear that you are feeling down and that your skin issue is painful and so annoying. I see a bazillion TV ads about treatments for psoriasis and maybe there is one that will work for you. By the way, why is there a “p” in that word? Seems a waste of a good consonant. We eish we could wave our magic wand and make it all better and make Toby less aggressive too but…alas. Sending good thoughts your way. Hey, take it from me…mirrors are overrated. 😁
Oh, don’t worry about me. I can deal with the sunburn and looking fugly. What bothers me is that this is interfering with my ability to work. : – (
I did look into the medications for this, They run close to $10,000/yr, and they basically turn off your immune system. Somehow it didn’t seem like a good risk.
All I have to do is take my glasses off before I look in a mirror. Then I am beautiful! (I think.)
Toby says everything is better with extra pee’s!
A number of people have told me that I am stunningly handsome as long as they stay drunk. The more drunk, the more handsome I get. The Beer Goggle song was written for me.
Lucky you! You are a muse and a continuing source of inspiration to artists and songwriters just like Helen of Troy.
Yes, I have a “face that sank a thousand ships.”
Oh my, what were you doing with that face? Launching it from torpedo tubes? 🤔😝
SWEETHEART… DONT LET THE IGNORANT GET TO YOU
MY MUM USED TO SAY YOU CAN EDUCATE IGNORANCE… BUT YOU CANT CHQNGE WTUPID !!!!!!!!!!!
I KP HQIN ON THE TV ABOUT THIS DUPIXENT FOR WHAT YOU HAVE, I KNOW ABOUT COSTS.. BUT DRUG COMPANIES ARE SUBSIDIZINGSCRIPTSTO GET FOLK TO TRY OUT.
IT HAS TO BE WORTH A CHAT TO THE DR.
AND THEN THERE IS SLSO OLD REMEDYS THINGS,,, BAG BALM
IS JUST ONE
HUGSSSSSSSSSSSS
I do use Bag Balm! I have to be careful, though, because my hair sticks to it. What a mess!
Aw. 😦 I’m so sorry you have to deal with this…and especially sorry when people are unkind AND when it has kept you from getting jobs. 😦
For years and years, my Mom had a LOT of skin pre-cancers and cancers on her face (that had to always be surgically removed, of course). I remember how tired she got of people saying, “What’s wrong with your face?” What happened to your face?” I told her she should wear a sign around her neck that answered the question and just point to it OR make up a wild story about getting in a bar fight or something. That made her laugh.
Hang in there, SweetL! ❤
Yes, it is wonderful our furry-kids don't care how we look as long as the food keeps coming. Ha! 🙂
(((HUGS))) 🙂
PS…broken nose?!
I've had my nose broken.
For several months, I had to wear a full splint on my left leg. To address all the strange looks I got, I wanted a T shirt that said, “This isn’t who I am, it is just what happened to me!”. I love the idea of the bar fight story better. I should try that some day. 😂
People have been very polite to me despite my appearance. I think it might stand out more in their memories than my art, though. ☹️
Toby broke my nose last November, and it healed crooked. It’s only fitting he gets to enjoy looking at his handiwork.
To this day if I have a check up for colorectal; cancer I wear my T shirt with the giant “;” on it. Semi-colon, that’s about all that’s left. 😁
Oh my goodness, what a sense of humor! I should tell my auntie about that. She had about half of hers removed too. (She feels and looks much better now. I hope you do too!)
Yup, 6 years, full remission.
Hooray! That is wonderful news! I hope it never darkens your doorstep again.
Ooh! 😦 I forgot about last Nov.
I had my nose broke, too. Long story. Pretty sure I blogged about it in the past. ‘Twas very painful. And I had to have surgery. I was only a little kid at the time.
(((HUGS)))
Oh no! That sounds horribly painful. 😧 How does your nose work now? Can you breathe OK?
It has been fine all these years. As far as I know.
I have always had sinus issues and sinus infections…so ??? 🙂 But I had those, and asthma, before the breakage. 🙂
You remind me of my cousin. After she got hit in the face with a softball and needed surgery anyway, she insisted the doctors to sinus surgery so she wouldn’t have as many issues.
Glad you can keep your sunglasses up! 😝
She was smart to think of that!
I was only 7 or 8 when I had the broken nose surgery, so I had no clue. HA! Thanks! Yes! 😎
Here’s where I blogged about it…
https://doesitevenmatter3.wordpress.com/2018/05/16/if-it-aint-broke-dont-fix-it-d/
Obligatory old joke: Carolyn’s nose is a poet. A Longfellow.
She sneezed a sneeze into the air
Unfortunate sneeze, it went nowhere.
The sneeze was trapped inside – it froze
‘Cause Carolyn’s brother broke her nose.
Excellent! Here’s my haiku:
Drip, drip, drip, drip, drip
DRIP, DRIP, DRIP, DRIP, DRIP, DRIP, DRIP
It’s Carolyn’s nose.
Noses are red, but Carolyn’s purple.
She got hit by a ball, now her brother’s in trouble.
When the hardball hit me in the nose it was more like…
Gush, gush, gush, gush, gush
GUSH, GUSH, GUSH, GUSH, GUSH, GUSH, GUSH
Blood is everywhere! 😮
HA! 😛
Well played!
😝😝😂😂
❤️
HAHAHAHA*snort*!!! 😀
We tease ya ’cause we luv ya, Carolyn. But I can see where you’d prefer we luv ya less.
Tease away! 😉 And keep luv-ing me! Please! 🙂
Always. On both.
🙂
you have certainly had a rough year! 😦
This flare is up to 2 1/2 years and still going Yippee.
Oh my word! I had a student who suffered with this, he still is fighting with doctors to get treatment
I’m sorry about that. I know many people are a whole lot worse than I am. I hope he can get some help.
Sadly, this isn’t even one of the bad ones.
All that matters is that your soul is perfect
Oh dear, then I’m really in trouble!
People don’t want to hire you…but they readily hire people with the most awful tattoos. I know which would put me off more…
😆😆😆😆 So true!
I’m sorry things have been so difficult for you this year and in the years past. I feel like I could write a bunch of gobbley-gook that would be worthless, but really enough is said with just I’m so sorry for all your troubles.
Aw, thank you!