I don't want people living with psoriasis

to feel that they are alone in this journey.

Hi, I’m Michelle.

I used to be a special education teacher.

I'm a writer now,
 and I'm living with psoriasis

and psoriatic arthritis.

Writing is my first love.

I feel free when I write

because I am able to express myself more

and deal with all the emotions that I am feeling.

I started feeling the symptoms of psoriasis,

October of 2021.

I started noticing rashes under my breasts

and I just shrugged it off.

And then I started noticing

a buildup on my scalp and I thought it was just dandruff.

However, it became so thick

and it's super, super itchy.

When I first went to the doctor and they examined me

they thought it was eczema.

It took almost close to one year for me to have the diagnosis.

I had scalp psoriasis all over my head,

around my ears, at the back of my neck, on my arms.

I have my whole back.

I have it on my legs.

From head to toe, everything was so itchy.

I allotted myself almost two hours for me to get ready for work.

Because applying the medicated lotion and the medicated spray,

it really took a while.

I felt the need to cover some parts of my body

because I felt different from other people.

I didn't tell my friends at first about my condition,

because I felt that they wouldn't be able to understand

what my condition is.

They might think that it is contagious.

There was a time that I was limping

and I had severe pain on my knees also.

So when I sought the help of a dermatologist,

she felt that I had bumps on my fingers

and she checked my knees also.

And she said that, “Oh, I think you also psoriatic arthritis.”

So after my diagnosis of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis,

I also was diagnosed with other comorbidities like being pre-diabetic,

hypertension and high cholesterol also.

Psoriasis taught me that I'm stronger than I thought.

I wrote something.

This is a letter to myself, when I was first diagnosed with psoriasis.

You're staring at the mirror trying to recognize the girl

whose skin tells a story she never asked for.

You're overwhelmed, sometimes embarrassed

and unsure if things will ever get better.

I want you to know this, it will get better,

not because the road will be easy,

but because you will learn to walk it with grace.

You will cry, yes.

You will question, yes, but one day you will also laugh freely again.

You will dance, you will write, you will love deeply,

and you will find yourself surrounded by people who see you,

not your condition, not your scars, not your struggles.

You may not believe it now, but this journey will shape you

into someone stronger, braver, and more compassionate.

The very thing that feels like a burden will open doors you never imagined.

It will connect you to others who need your voice,

your story, and your courage.

Hold on, dear one.

Don't give up on yourself.

Trust that the pain you carry now

now will one day become the purpose you share with the world.

Your future self.