During the months that followed, I would take my stress to the pubs with ‘friends’. Interestingly, only one or two of my friends had the guts to ask me of my condition. I surely don’t blame them. Like myself, I believe they had their own sorrows they had to drown. From my experience, I feel people should not fear asking about it. If your friend has vitiligo ask them about it. Ask how they feel. Be concerned. It makes you more genuine. I feel more comfortable if someone asks me. More often than not if you don’t ask, I still tell you about it.

I now understand why Jesus said we must ‘Be like children’. In my life with Vitiligo, kids have really left a mark in my life. I remember one time while on a CSR at a Children’s home, one of the disabled kids innocently asked me; ‘Who helps you put on your clothes?’. He was so sorry for me that I almost cried. Another found me in the packing lot, asked me what happened to me. I explained it is just a skin condition that appears like a burn. The kid was genuinely sorry. He told me I will be fine :). I believed him. These are just a few. Some have even asked to touch my skin just to see how it feels. I love kids! For those with friends or relatives with vitiligo, make a point to know how they are doing. You will make them be more at ease around you.

So my drinking continued for a while until I almost died after my drink was spiked while on duty outside the country. Thanks to God, Safe for a colleague we had travelled with, I believe I wouldn’t be here right now. She was God sent. This was my ‘Damascus’ moment. It occurred to me, that despite what you may be going through, there are so many people out there who care about you and would go out of their way to ensure that you are fine. That was the last bottle of alcohol I ever took again….

Using the analogy of ‘The car next to you is always a Toyota’, I only started seeing people with Vitiligo when I got it. Until then, I never knew about vitiligo.

It was sometime in 2008 when my wife spotted a pigmentation change on my lip. Thank God She is a Medic and very keen on any changes happening to our bodies in the house. Initially, we were not sure what it was. 3 months down the line the dot on the lip had gradually increased. It had not yet worried me yet since I thought it would still go away. The patch began becoming more brighter and brighter. The black color faded completely on it. That’s when I visited a Dermatologist. Its actually the first time I heard of Vitiligo. We had a chat with the doc. According to him, he had seen worse cases than mine normalise and He assured me that this was a small issue which if i took the medication, all will be well. In a few months it should be gone. I took the meds for several months and given the meds were really expensive, I exhausted my cover in a few months.

During the time I took the medication, the patch actually stopped spreading but it didn’t reduce in size. So there was hope. A week after my cover ended, I didn’t have funds to pick the meds and given it was not sustainable to purchase from my salary I had to stop.

Vitiligo is not a painful condition. In its initial phase, unless someone points it out, you will certainly not notice a thing. As it progresses, that’s when it gets sensitive. The skin is prone to sunburns and hence you need to walk with a sunscreen ointment and a Cap to shield you. When I stopped taking meds, it was like lighting a dry bush. Within two weeks the patch had almost tripled. That’s when it became clear that this was a burden I will live with for a while.

For the next few months and 3-4 years to come, I looked for a cure, visited several Dermatologists but was all in vain. The meds would more or less manage it and reduce the pace to spread but would not cure. Not to pour water on the advances made in the research so far, I have seen one or two people whose vitiligo had actually cleared. I began to be stressed out but I commend my wife who really supported me. She would encourage me, joke about it or just tell me how it’s really not a big deal in our family if I had Vitiligo. But it was a battle within that was the most difficult to overcome….

This is normally pronounced as ‘Vi-til-EYE-go’. Vitiligo is caused by the reduction or lack of a pigment called melanin in the skin. Melanin is produced by skin cells called melanocytes, and it gives your skin its colour. In vitiligo, the melanocytes die and therefore, there are not enough working melanocytes to produce enough melanin in your skin. This causes white patches to develop on your skin or hair.

Vitiligo can affect any part of the body but the parts normally affected are as below:

• Mouth and eyes
• Fingers and wrists
• Armpits
• Hair
• groin
• genitals
• inside your mouth and/or nose

Some few FACTS about vitiligo are;

• Vitiligo can affect people of any age, race and gender.
• There is currently no known cure.
• The exact cause is also not known. Some researchers however believe it is an autoimmune disorder(the patient immune system becomes overactive and destroys the melanocytes), some think it’s due to a virus and others hereditary family link.
• You cannot catch Vitiligo from another person.
• Exposure to UVA and UVB light can help some individuals with the condition.
• If more than 50% of the skin is affected, depigmentation(like bleaching the remaining unaffected area) might be an option.
• Though the exact age of manifestation is not yet established, some studies have concluded that a larger percentage of cases seem to start around the age of 20.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS

Vitiligo starts as a simple spot, a little paler than the rest of the skin. Gradually, with time, this spot will become much paler and until it turns white.

The shapes of these patches are completely irregular, and, at times, the edges can become a little itchy due to being inflamed or swollen. Other than that, vitiligo is a silent condition with minimal discomfort, irritation, soreness or dryness on the skin.

Vitiligo is photo sensitive; persons affected should avoid exposing the skin to direct sunlight for a prolonged period.