About Vitiligo and How Our Saturday Went

I'm not sure if you guys are familiar with Vitiligo. From Wikipedia:

Vitiligo is a condition that causes depigmentation of sections of skin. It occurs when melanocytes, the cells responsible for skin pigmentation, die or are unable to function. The cause of vitiligo is unknown, but research suggests that it may arise from autoimmune, genetic, oxidative stress, neural, or viral causes. The incidence worldwide is less than 1%. The most common form is non-segmental vitiligo, which tends to appear in symmetric patches, sometimes over large areas of the body.

Like Michael Jackson, I have Vitiligo. I have white patches on my face that I try my hardest to conceal with makeup. It's at the tip of my right eyebrow and at the bottom of my right eye. If I remember correctly, Wowa saw this on my face when I was a freshman in college. She dragged me to this famous derma (hindi kay Belo kasi hindi pa ata sikat si Belo nung mga panahong iyon). The derma told us that it's Vitiligo. Segmental daw yung sa akin so it will just go around my eye. Hindi siya magiging large patches all over my face (thank God!). 1% kang ng sangka-tauhan ang merong Vitiligo. Ang swerte swerte ko talaga because for a very maarte and vain person like me, nakasama pa ako diyan sa 1% na yan.

I had it treated. That time, they were vetoing the thought of injecting steriods on it kasi malapit sa mata ko. Dangerous as they might damage my sight. So they just had me put this ointment on it and I have to make babad under the sun for 15 minutes between 10am to 2pm everyday. Imagine the hassle nun?! At first ginagawa ko pa siya but later on, hinayaan ko na. Wowa asked me if I get insecure of it and I said hindi naman. Nagkakaboypren pa naman ako kahit may Vitiligo ako sa fez eh. Choz. So we let it be na lang.

Presently, 14 years after that, I notice that the vitiligo on my face isn't growing. I have praning moments though na akala ko may mga white patches sa ibang parts of my face but wala naman pala. I feel lucky because I sometimes see people with really fully blown vitiligo all over their body. Maswerte pa daw ako.

Anyways, the derma also said that my children will have a 20% chance of having Vitiligo. 

Pataykangbataka.

Yan ang sinubaybayan ko kay Anika. I kept on praying that sana she won't get Vitiligo like me. However, last year, I noticed a white spot on her face. Kinabahan na ako pero I thought baka praning lang akish. Kaso eto na, this year, there's this really noticeable white spot on her cheek apart from the white spot that I noticed on her temple.

I wanted to cry!!!

My very pretty unica hija has VITILIGO on her face!!!!

My ever so calm mother in law told me to have it checked by a pedia dermatologist. "Pedia dermatologist?! Meron pala nun?!", I thought that time. Lo and behold, when I attended the Johnson and Johnson event, pinalibutan ako ng magagandang pedia dermatologists!!!! I felt so lucky! It was destiny! 

So last week, I called up their clinics. Since I was with the best of the best pedia dermas that time, I thought kahit sino sa kanila, I would be kampante to take Anika to. The clinic schedule that was swak with our Saturday schedule last week was that of Dra. Mariel Nicolas. Her clinic room number is 317 at Asian Hospital.

So we took Anika to see Dra. Nicolas. I was so happy because she remembered me. She was still very nice like the first time I met her at the Johnson and Johnson event. She asked me a couple of questions while Alvin was making Anika aliw. Anika kasi started crying na kasi the moment we stepped inside the clinic. Takot na takot kasi yun sa mga doctors. Dra. Nicolas said that her daughter was also like that during that age but got over it din. Hay salamat! Hindi pala nagiisa ang Anika na ganun.

Anyways, Dra. Nicolas asked me what soap Anika uses. Johnson and Johnson of course! Haha! Then she asked me if Anika has allergies, none naman. She asked if Anika scratches the white spots, no din. Then she went near Anika (who started bawling again) to check her face.

Grabe, I was so happy when Dra. Nicolas said that the white spots on Anika's face is not Vitiligo!!! (Naka-ilang Apostles Creed din ako na dinasal while waiting at the patients' lounge for our turn noh!) I forgot lang what it's called but due to dryness of the skin, naginflame yung part ng skin niya na yun so yung upper layer ng skin parang nadamage or something. If left untreated, Anika will be like those kids na pagnagbeach at na-arawan, umiitim ang face except for those white spots. 

Ang pangit naman nun so Dra. Nicolas gave us an ointment na super duper mild, you have to put it on the skin 3x a day for it to have an effect. We were told to go back again after two weeks so Dra can check again if okay na saka siya magbigay ng moisturizer for Anika's dry skin.

Oh my! You just can't imagine talaga guys how happy I was!! I almost hugged Dra right there and then! I was skipping while walking down the corridor. Happy! Happy! Happy! 

Anika has no Vitiligo!!

Outfit of the Day =)

After our doctor's appointment, we went to Makati to have Anika's measurements taken. First ever flower girl gig niya kasi eh. We had lunch first at Watermart. Alvin passed by Eng Bee Tin at the second floor where my daughter hoarded God knows what.

She doesn't actually know what she's picking off the shelves. She just liked the feeling of shopping. Just like Nanay =)

Sadly, Ammon Velasco wasn't able to take Anika's measurement. Anika screams and cries kasi whenever his assistant gets near her. Akala ni Anika doctor. She forced herself to vomit para hindi na siya tuluyang lapitan. Mukhang effective naman kasi sabi nung assistant niya, next time na lang daw siya sukatan. Kawawa naman.

We really had to make her aliw so that we can make tambay inside the shop. Ang init init kaya sa corridor! And so ang ending, everybody had their measurements taken except for my unica hija.

We'll try again next time! Good luck to us!