Let’s make one thing clear: I have Vitiligo. I have white spots, I am slowly turning into Michael Jackson (minus the nose job, thankfully, just becoming completely white). I know of it. I have tried TONS of different cures, to no result.

According to wikipedia:

“Vitiligo is a chronic skin disease that causes loss of pigment, resulting in irregular pale patches of skin. It occurs when the melanocytes, cells responsible for skin pigmentation, die or are unable to function. The precise cause of vitiligo is complex and not fully understood. There is some evidence suggesting it is caused by a combination of auto-immune, genetic, and environmental factors. The population incidence worldwide is considered to be between 1% and 2%.”

What’s bugging me lately is that I made the horrible, yet interesting “mistake” of adding the google alert for EVERYTHING about Vitiligo. So far, I have read that:

“It is usually triggered by a fungus infection in the skin. It can be a side effect of heavy antibiotic use, chemotherapy, steroid use or even birth control pills.”

or that

“Michael Jackson has vitiligo the awful skin disease! it’s real,it’s disgusting and it’s no joke! It’s a whitening skin disease where the skin becomes pitchy patchy and the white part is a ghost like putrid colour.”

Among many, many complainy posts.

I have Vitiligo, I have tried creams, oils, more creams, exercises, stay out on the sun doing nothing, even some weird placenta stuff that was sent over from Cuba. I have written to the people who make the XTRAC laser (no answer yet, still waiting) which seems the answer to my Vitiligo “problem”

However…. I seldom complain about my Vitiligo. Why? Why should I complain? It’s here… it’s part of me, if I get stressed out I get more spots, if I don’t, they stay there, why should I complain? I am unique. No one has the exact same spots I have. My current “Friend with Benefits” says I wouldn’t look bad being all white either, and he likes my spots. My friends barely notice them, unless I bring attention to them. Someone a few years ago thought the white spots on my eyelids were just “Some clever eyeshadow” and the lead singer for Circulos de Nada once told me that they seem like windows to my soul.

Why can’t people see the beauty of it? OF COURSE we’ll get the irrational comments, like that completely ignorant girl in college who asked me if I had the Pinta disease. I just proudly said “Nope…Vitiligo” and never was that subject made known of again.

I am ok with having Vitiligo. I don’t care much about it usually, now and then I DO get nervious and worry about how it could affect me. But today is not the day. I am proud of who I am. I am happy to have such a unique thing on my body.