"I have a skin disorder that destroys the pigmentation of my skin, it's something that I cannot help, OK?" - Michael Jackson
At 5 years old I was diagnosed with Vitiligo. About 0.5% to 1% of the world's population have been diagnosed with Vitiligo. It causes loss of skin pigmentation in blotches. Every part of your body can be affected, including your hair. The rate and extent of the color loss are unpredictable. Normally, the color of your skin, hair and eyes are determined by melanin. Vitiligo occurs when the cells that produce melanin die or stop functioning.
I have had Vitiligo since birth, the doctors just assumed it was a white birthmark, later we found out that wasn't the case. Sometime between the age of 2 to 3 years old, I ran into the bushes on my tricycle. Scraped and probably screaming or crying, my mom brought me inside and cleaned up all of the scrapes on my arms and legs. Life continued on as usual.
A few weeks later when the cuts were healed and the scabs were falling off, my mom noticed that something about the way the cuts were healing wasn't right. The areas that the scabs had already fallen off of were white, almost like the area had scared. Not being overly alarmed my parents watched the areas carefully after the cuts had fully healed. The scars hadn't changed much over several months, so we just thought that the areas were scars.
Playing outside I fell and scraped my knees, just like when I rode into the bushes, my mom washed all the scrapes and put band-aids on them. After the scabs were starting to fall off, the same thing happened, the areas turned white. Realizing that this was happening every time I got hurt was starting to alarm my parents. My mom finally decided to take me to see a dermatologist (a doctor who specializes in the treatment of skin, hair and nail disorders and diseases).
When we got to the dermatologist's office, I was the only pediatric patient that was there. Once I went back into one of the examination rooms, the doctor knew exactly what it was once she saw it. I was diagnosed with Vitiligo at the age of 5-years-old. The doctor sent me home with a couple of steroid creams to use on the spots and wanted to see me back in a few months.
After a few months of steroids and seeing the dermatologist, the spots weren't shrinking, but they weren't growing either. As long as the spots weren't growing, we weren't overly concerned about the way my skin looked. Then, I started elementary school. As you could probably imagine, the comments that I received weren't the kindest.
The comments that I have heard about the way my skin looks, most of the time are not kind. I have been asked if I was burned, had bleach poured onto my skin, had acid thrown at me, if it's contagious, if it hurts, if I am a half cheetah, and many other things. The most common one, and to this day I still get asked this, is "What's wrong with your skin?"
As I got older, I learned how to ignore the comments, but there is always something that I have never been able to ignore. You would be amazed as to how many people stare at me. Over time I have realized that it isn't the kids that stare, but it's the adults that do.
As society has changed, it has become more acceptable to look different than everyone else. Which is why I guess that kids don't stare as much. They've been taught that it's OK to look different--whereas adults, even people in their twenties, have been taught that everyone needs to look a certain way and fit this mold that society has created.
I've seen the looks that I get while walking through the store or walking through the parking lot. Some of the people that stare at me look like they have just seen a monster or a zombie. The kids will look, but then they will look away and carry on with whatever they were doing. Adults, on the other hand, will look and keep their eyes on me until I'm out of their view.
The point that I'm trying to make here, is that I'm still a human being. So my skin might look a little weird, but just because I look different doesn't mean you need to stare at me. I'm just like everyone else. Skin color neither portrays a person's character nor does it define anyone. So, if you see me or anyone else that has Vitiligo in public, don't stare at us. Actually, don't stare at anyone, no matter what they look like. It's rude.
