Since my last post, my leg bumps resolved as of October 1st, and my burned skin has gone back to its previous state, the scar is still evident and seems drier than the rest but no other issues besides that.
My sleep has finally returned to normal without having to take any sleep aids or pain killers. Save some minor itching in the evening, I can get a good 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. This has helped greatly with my outlook on the whole situation. I feel like now I'm on the other side of the hill looking back and thinking, it was possible, thank goodness I'm close to the end.
My skin has greatly improved, face and most of my torso shows signs of scarring from where the skin used to be raw and peeling. I still do produce more skin than a normal person but this has greatly reduced and my room is just slightly dusty and I can actually go a couple days without frantically vacuuming. The texture is fine enough where no one can really tell I have affected skin. It's only obvious if I try to bend it and the lack of elasticity is still very evident. It's like soft elephant skin :P
My skin is no where near perfect though. The areas that spent a lot of time open and weeping are still clearly thinner than the other areas and similar to a cut or scrape, this skin will need time to return back to normal. The color ranges from light pink, where the skin is the youngest, to slightly hyperpigmented, where the skin is starting to heal over. But overall, if I squint, it's close to normal color.
The only real trouble spots (by that I mean still flaring) that now remain are my wrists, which are improving every day, back of my knees and the tops of my ankles, particularly my left one. Even in these spots, shedding has reduced substantially, not much oozing occurs unless I over scratch. I shed these areas in the shower after the skin has softened and they last a good 12 hours before I have to dust flakes off my clothes or anything. AMAZING.
For the past month, I've gone back to trying to eat less indulgently and I've gone back to working out regularly. Hopefully I can shed the pounds I've gained during this debacle (a total of 10 lbs so far. yikes.)
It's great to be concerned about regular life things again. I've slowly started to wear makeup again on Fridays but oddly enough, I feel like it's less me than before and often opt for the bare face look these days, perhaps with a touch of eyeliner.
I've even started drinking again. Not as heavily as the party girl version of me, but still a handful of bottles of beer per week. My skin feels dry as a result for a day but it's nowhere as devastating as before.
Anyway, for those of you starting your journey, just hang in. There is an end. I'm glad I'm seeing the light at the end of the long tunnel. There will be a bit of time to go before my skin is completely healed but I'm already very happy with the strides I've made and can't wait to see more improvements. Heal on my friends!
