keloid diary

Keloid, brutality of slavery

2014-06-10T12:29:00.000-07:00

Gordon Antique colored slide of Gordon during his 1863 medical examination Other names Peter Known for Pivotal figure in exposing the brutality of slavery Gordon was a slave on a Mississippi plantation who made his escape from bondage in March 1863. In order to foil the scent of the blood-hounds who were chasing him, he took onions from his plantation, which he carried in his pockets. After crossing each creek or swamp, he rubbed his body freely with these onions in order to throw the dogs off his scent. He fled over 80 miles (130 km) over the course of ten days before reaching Union soldiers who were stationed in Baton Rouge.[1] Upon arrival at the Union camp, Gordon underwent a medical examination which revealed severe keloid scars from several whippings. During the examination, Gordon is quoted as saying "Overseer Artayou Carrier whipped me. I was two months in bed sore from the whipping. My master come after I was whipped; he discharged the overseer."[2] The carte de visite images showing Gordon's scars were frequently used by abolitionists, giving Northerners visual evidence of the brutality of slavery. Gordon served the Union troops as a guide, and on one expedition was taken prisoner by the rebels, who, infuriated beyond measure, tied him up and beat him, leaving him for dead. He survived, however, and once more made his escape to Union lines. Gordon soon afterwards enlisted in a Colored Troops Civil War unit, and was said to have fought bravely in the Union assault on Port Hudson in May 1863, the first time that African-American soldiers played a leading role in an assault.[3] The Atlantic's editor-in-chief James Bennet noted "Part of the incredible power of this image I think is the dignity of that man. He's posing. His expression is almost indifferent. I just find that remarkable. He's basically saying, 'This is a fact.'"[4]

via wikipedia

True

2014-02-11T03:52:00.001-08:00

For me it's to tell the world I have keloid.

image via observando

Keeping your mind off keloid

2013-12-13T17:34:00.000-08:00

It's always in the back of my mind that I have a keloid on my shoulder. A lot of times when I go about my normal daily life, I still think about it. Mainly because the itchyness keeps coming back and it's almost like a constant reminder. Like hello I'm here! If this happens on a bad day, it can really bring you down. If you have keloid you know exactly what am I talking about.

There are a few things I find helpful and keeps my mind off this annoying keloid a little bit.
1. I use Cica-Care. I always talk about this product and I have posted how I use it. It really physically helps me get through my daily life. I don't feel itchy most of the days. I can move. I can workout. I can wear cashmere or wool without feeling itchy.

2. I don't keep any clothes I can't wear. I mean things that would not cover my keloid or things that make me feel subconscious. I would get rid of it.

3. I like to spend time learning stuff or do something that advance my career. I see this as a long term investment. Having a keloid equal to having an investment that keep losing money. The feeling of uncertianly is what gets me depressed. The only way to counter this is to make a good investment. Something you certainly enjoy. Something that would keep on growing overtime and no one can take that away from me. Am I making any sense?

4. I just work really hard. I'm a graphic designer so working long hours is very normal for me. I find working and designing something pretty are quite therapeutic. Even when I don't work I look at pictures and some inspirations for my personal projects. I love home decor. I took on a huge home renovation recently and that kept me busy for a year!

What about you. What's your experience?

Can you get chicken pox even if vaccinated?

2013-12-13T16:27:00.004-08:00

On unrelated topic, the answer is yes. It happened to me a couple years ago. I got vaccinated when I was in my teen since I didn't have chicken pox when I was a kid and to avoid ugly scars. My mom thinks it would be worse in adult. I had complete set of shots, a second booster and everything. But I still caught chicken pox from my coworker when I was in my 30s. How weird is that. On a good side the rash was really small and there were only a few big ones. I didn't keloid from any of those. What's your experience?

Does steroid injection effect your hormone?

2013-10-07T18:21:00.002-07:00

I thought of this because from my personal observation. I find that whenever I have an injection, my period is either missing, late or I have spotted in between periods. I asked my doctor he said that very unlikely since the amount of injection on my is really small. My liver with processed it right away and it won't stay in my body for long enough to even effect my system. What do you think? Does anyone have experienced this? Anyone?

Good read

2013-09-12T15:33:00.001-07:00

I came across this inspirational story on thoughtcatalog. I do agree with Vicky, if steroid doesn't work the first time use stronger steroid!

Taking a break from injection | how I use silicone sheet

2013-09-11T21:56:00.000-07:00

I been taking a break for awhile because I don't see any immedient spread on my keloid. In the mean time, I still keep the silicone sheet on my keloid otherwise it would spread like crazy and itch like crazy. I thought I should share step by step of how I apply Cica-care on my keloid. I would be uploading a better photo on my Keloid Timeline later. These taken on my camera phone. I apologize for poor quality.

You can see it is summer and I have tan line around the keloid. I been avoiding sun exposure. And been using Cica-Care religiously. It's better not getting keloid tanned. Not only it would tan darker than your skin, but also it's really hard to undo the tanned. You would have to wait years or use laser to lighten the color.

Here is the silicone sheet I bought awhile ago. When you buy this, it comes in a big sheet. It runs about $50 a sheet. You can get this easily on Amazon. The price isn't really that bad. One sheet can last me for a year. I prefer Cica-Care brand because it's thicker and more effective than other pharmacy brands. It has a nice thickness to it which can hold up the skin around the scar really well. And once you tape it up it gives some pressure on the scar. You don't wanna use the ones that are too thin and stretchy.

You can cut this up to size. I cut this up with clean scissors. You wanna make sure that it's bigger than your keloid and it covers the skin around it. It's better that you go generous on this than to be too small. My problem area is mostly on top, so I just make sure I have some extra coverage on that area. You want it to be like a second skin. This would not work on a keloid that are too raised.

Then you wanna press it down starting from one side. Make sure there's no air bubbles between the skin and the silicone sheet.

I tape this up with waterproof bandages I bought from CVS. The reason why I use these because they are the thinnest out of all the bandages. And they sticks to my skin really well. I have tried medical tapes, they are not very sticky enough for me. The tape tend to come off when I move my shoulder. They also gives me rash. You have to find different things and see what works best for you.

I make sure that the bandages cover the edges of the silicon. This is imporatant for 2 reasons.

1) This way you can get a good pressure from all sides. 2) Is to protect the silicone from getting dirty. When it has dust or lint from clothing on, it loses the ability to stick. You can re use this silicone for a month if you take care of it well.

Then I added 2 more on top and the bottom.

And it's done!

To clean it up

I peel it off when I take a shower and soak it in alcohol. Rub the sticky sides against each other so dust and dirt comes off. Try not to use hand because oil from our hands can make it lose stickiness. Wait until it completely dry (dry your skin as well.) If it's not dry it would not stick. Don't put any lotion or cream on the keloid when you use silicone sheet. You will need to stock up a lot of alcohol since you will be washing it daily or even twice a day. You wanna keep it clean to prevent and rash.

How long until you see the result?

I can only say from my experience. The itch stops almost imediently. It's like when your keloid really itch, you press your warm palm on it and it gives you that comfort. That how it feels. There's really no magic when it comes to keloid. Don't expect to see your keloid flatten over night. Gives it at least 5 months. You will start to see the color changes. It would be less red, less inflamed.

Keloid wedding dresses

2013-03-15T19:17:00.000-07:00

Yes there is such thing as keloid wedding dress! My biggest problem when I had my wedding was finding a wedding dress that would cover my keloid. I'm a petite size so I don't carry long sleeve gown that well. I would look like I'm drown in a dress that cover everything. We also had our wedding in Thailand. The weather was extremely hot at the time. People would think I'm out of my mind wearing a long sleeve. Not a lot of designers make wedding gown with short sleeves either. Temperley London is one of the only brand who makes stylish wedding gown with sleeves. Thank you! It's so refreshing to see something like this!!

TEMPERLEY LONDON

White Bellerose Lace Dress

TEMPERLEY LONDON

Laelia floral-appliquéd silk crepe de chine gown

Take Keloid survey

2012-11-13T16:20:00.003-08:00

Again if you haven't done so. Please take time to fill out some questionnaire. This would help us a better understanding about keloids in the future.

To participate in this survey, please click on the link below to go directly to the survey questions.
http://keloidsurvey.com

Keloid timeline

2012-11-03T18:50:00.001-07:00

Let recap again from the first time I started to document my treatments. What does this tells me? My keloid started to grow out of the frame. It's time to make a new timeline!

click on the photo to see full size image

Keloid still spreading, what's else is new?

2012-11-03T18:20:00.000-07:00

This's how my keloid looks today. I notice a new development on top right corner. This is so frustrating!! You can see it better on the bottom photos. My doctor have recently told me to use new cream called Bio Croneum. And stopped using Cica-Care, because it's not FDA arpoved in United State. I gave it a chance and tried using it for about 4 months now. I have to say, not only it doesn't work, it f***ed up my keloid. Let me explain why.

1. Bio Croneum might work well on newer scar or to prevent scar tissue to form. Bio Croneum works by forming a thin silicon layer to protect the skin to lower the chance of scar tissue to form. But it doesn't work on older scars or keloids. Because the scar is already there.

2. That thin layer of silicon does absolutely nothing to protect my keloid from rubbing against my shirt and that causing the keloid to continue growing.

3. In my case, the shoulder is an area where there's high stretching and contracting activity. The keloid tend to spread because of the skin moments around it.

4. I still think Cica-Care is the best solution in term of protecting my scar from rubbing against my clothes and minimizing skin moment around the keloid.

With all that being said. That's not the end. I'm still fighting!

Keloid dresses

2012-10-19T17:36:00.000-07:00

Even though I have keloid on my shoulder, I still wanna look cute and fashionable to compensate with what I'm missing in sleeveless fashion. On day to day basis I manage to find clothes that cover both my shoulders and I even make sure that they are opaque enough so my Cica Care bandages won't show. I don't wanna have to answer anyone's question like oh what's wrong with your shoulder blah blah, you know what I mean.

I'm so thrilled with the recent trend of one shoulder dresses. A lot of designers make cute dresses and tops. This give me more options for formal wear or even cute summer dresses. Unlike back in the 90s when one shoulder tops were like un cool 70s things from the past.

Here are one shoulder dresses (preferably left shoulder) with long enough sleeves to precisely cover my BCG keloid.

Keloid dresses by keloiddiary featuring one shoulder sleeve dresses

Inspiring story | Katie Piper

2012-10-19T14:57:00.001-07:00

I came across this documentary on youtube about a former model and television presenter, Katie Piper. A few years ago a vicious acid attack destroyed her face. It is very inspiring to see how strong and how open she is to come out. And tell her personal story. I almost cried.

Sorry, there are 6 parts videos but I can't find part 1 anywhere.

I find it's very important to have good support from family and loved ones. This is something I'm short of. My family think I'm crazy and that breaks my heart. They all don't have keloid and they don't understand how it feels. My mom thinks that if I leave it alone, it will go away. I just don't wanna bother sharing my treatment experience with anyone even my husband. Because I would end up getting discouraged. Even when I told him that my keloid is growing, he can't tell. He thinks it looks the same! That's how men are...sign..

Botox on keloid. Who would have thought?

2012-10-08T03:33:00.000-07:00

After I been complaining nonstop about the itchiness, my doctor suggested me to try Botox. Since it known to temporary reduce muscle moment, I thought it makes so much sense to try it on the top part of my keloid. So I did it. He injected multiple shots of Botox directly on my keloid. (This technique is so much different from steroid injection where a needle would only enter the keloid once.) I have to say that makes me nervous. Because multiple jabbings = multiple trauma = keloid growth.

As I expected, the keloid started to form on the injected area. I'm guessing that we could have prevented this by adding steroid injection immedietly after the Botox. But my doctor refused to do it. Maybe they would counteract each other.

I think the Botox works ok in term of reducing the itch. I felt like I was itch free for about a month. I'm not sure if I wanna do it again. The problems I had with my experience was...it's pricey. And you still have to do steroid injection. I did mine 3 weeks after.

The Keloid and my shoulder.

2012-10-08T02:58:00.000-07:00

I just wanna show you my keloid relative to my arm. The most uncomfortable part is the top area. Where it's still growing toward the shoulder. It's painful and itchy especially when the seam of the shirt is rubbing against it.

Latest on my keloid. The color is looking really great!

2012-05-03T19:24:00.002-07:00

This is how my keloid look from the most recent photo I took right before I went to see my doctor. It seems that the middle part looks a lot nicer than before. The color looks almost like normal skin. Before the color gets to this point, my skin has been cracking and peeling out. I guess that's the part of the process.

On the other hand, the top part of the keloid where it's close to my shoulder is still not improving much. Lets see what the doctor is going to see this time. It's been a really long process, but I'm still hopeful. I hope that one day I can get the whole thing flatten down.

My keloid today

2012-02-15T17:17:00.000-08:00

After a recent steroid injection I had on Jan 20th. I have a photo update from Jan 27th for you to see.

(click on the photo to see it fullsize)

This photo was taken a week after the injection. I did 2 ultrasounds so far. One right after the injection and another one a week after. I showed the doctor the photos of the past treatments. He agreed that we should do the ultrasound right away instead of waiting 2 weeks. Which I think it's working! I can feel that my scar is much softer. The color looks much better than before.

Although It still swell a little, I can see that the top right started to improve a bit. The keloid is thinning which is a great deal for me. Especially the top of my shoulder is constantly moving and the keloid tend to grow really fast in that area. On the other hand, the top left is still a problem to me. As you can see that it's still thick. And that weird white tissue started to form. I'm not sure what that is. That happened to me before in the past. It usually dry out and fall off. creating a hole on the surface of the keloid.(if you go back and look at older photos of my keloid..you see something like that on the bottom part of the keloid) I don't think it's a good thing because it will form more keloid over the "hole" area.

My keloid update | 1 steroid injection, 4 ultrasounds

2012-01-18T15:37:00.000-08:00

It has been almost 6 weeks after my last steroid injection with a new doctor in Pasadena. He mixed the steroid with anesthetic to ease out the pain. But honestly I have been getting steroid injections without any anesthetic, and I'm totally ok with it. The pain isn't that bad. In the past, my doctor in Thailand has told me that anesthetic would counter the effect of steroid and it wouldn't work. I believe that is true, because I don't see much result this time. From my experience the amount of injection has to be generous enough that it would flatten the keloid and also prevent it from growing back. Because remember any trauma to the area would cause more keloid to grow and even a small needle incision is also a trauma.

After that shot in December, I had to wait 2 weeks before I can get ultrasound treatment done, which was done every week (it has been 4 treatments since). The doctor said it would help soften the keloid and also makes the steroid work faster. I'm not sure if this is working. Right after every treatment the skin around the keloid would start to itch really bad. Right now my keloid seems to be more red than before. And the area on top is starting to grow thicker. This starts to worry me. I have another appointment again this Friday. I will have to show these photos to the doctor. I'll let you know how it goes.

(click to see full size image)

timeline of my keloid

Take a Keloid Survey

2012-01-05T15:04:00.000-08:00

This study intends to provide a better understanding about keloids, distribution of various types of keloids, as well as response to different treatments. This study is conducted as a survey. If you would like to participate in this survey, please click on the link below to go directly to the survey questions.
http://keloidsurvey.com

What's the fuzz about BETNOVATE cream?

2012-01-04T20:41:00.000-08:00

The doctor I went to see in Thailand has given me this cream, he kept asking me every time when I saw him if I been using the cream. At first I didn't really care for this cream because from my experience cream don't really work on keloid. But one day I decided to try this. It actually soothing to the scar. It reduce the itchiness a lot and it also makes the scar feels softer. It's not really a cream for scar but it helps with the itchiness. I would only use this only on the days that I don't put Cica-care on. Because Cica-care won't stick anymore if you put it on oily skin.

Betnovate Cream (Betamethasone valerate BP 0.1% w/w) Betnovate is used to treat eczema, dermatitis, psoriasis and other skin conditions.

Cica Care | My life saver

2012-01-04T20:07:00.000-08:00

A lot of people think this does not work for them. But for me this is my life saver. I use Cica-Care on my keloid between each injection. It doesn't get rid of the scar but it makes my day to day activity more bearable. The gel sheet also has light steroid on it so it helps with the itchiness around the area. It also protect my scar if I ever accidental bump it on to something. You know how painful that is. I put this on my shoulder and secure it with a bunch of band-aids. Since my keloid is on the shoulder, this minimize the movement of the skin around the scar. So it slow down the spreading process.

Keloid, It's growing!

2012-01-04T16:52:00.000-08:00

After I told my husband that my scar is growing. He did not believe me so I have to do something to prove this. You can see from the photos that my scar is growing vertically. Part of it because of steroid injection I got. If the injection is too close to the border of the keloid, it would make the keloid spread. Usually inexperienced doctors often make this mistake and won't admit it. My mom has taken me to plastic surgeon since I was 10. I have had several injections from many doctors. Many of them caused the keloid to spread. I can already tell from the first injection if the doctor really knows what's he or she doing.

{click on the photo to see it large!}

Aug 22-Sep 10 - after a couple injections and lasers I got in Santa Monica. Did not work well with this doctor. His injection caused the keloid to spread. I decided to stop the treatment with him.

Oct 22 - after a couple steroid injections I got in Thailand during my vacation. Really good doctor! Amazing result!! The bottom and middle areas are completely flat. Too bad I can't go back there every month.

Dec 10 - The doctor in Thailand refers me to this new doctor I'm seeing in Pasadena. So I'm going to see how this works. This photo has taken after one steroid injection and couple more ultrasounds. The top part is still spreading. I need to show this photos to the doctor.

First Post

2012-01-04T16:06:00.000-08:00

Dear friends

I'm Miss Keloid. My keloid defines me as a person. It been a life long scar of mine. It never been a moment that I feel completely free of my scar. I always feels it. It's right there on my shoulder. It's itchy. It's painful. It's growing everyday. It's a big secret of my life. I rarely tell people about my keloid, because a few people I have told in the past think I have cancer (how ignorant). It's really hard for normal people to understand what keloid is, especially when it's growing. People raise eye browns and think I'm crazy to not try to fix this. But they don't know that there is no cure for keloid.

It been so long...since last time I ever worn a sleeveless, enjoyed going to a swimming pool, and got a good night sleep on the left side. Growing up experience has been painful. I used to get hit on the shoulder all the time because other kids think I pretend to cry. Part of this makes it hard for me to trust people. I'm pretty sure some of you who have keloid like me do share the same feeling...

my scar right before a first steroid shot in 5 years