Keloid, brutality of slavery

Gordon Antique colored slide of Gordon during his 1863 medical examination Other names Peter Known for Pivotal figure in exposing the brutality of slavery Gordon was a slave on a Mississippi plantation who made his escape from bondage in March 1863. In order to foil the scent of the blood-hounds who were chasing him, he took onions from his plantation, which he carried in his pockets. After crossing each creek or swamp, he rubbed his body freely with these onions in order to throw the dogs off his scent. He fled over 80 miles (130 km) over the course of ten days before reaching Union soldiers who were stationed in Baton Rouge.[1] Upon arrival at the Union camp, Gordon underwent a medical examination which revealed severe keloid scars from several whippings. During the examination, Gordon is quoted as saying "Overseer Artayou Carrier whipped me. I was two months in bed sore from the whipping. My master come after I was whipped; he discharged the overseer."[2] The carte de visite images showing Gordon's scars were frequently used by abolitionists, giving Northerners visual evidence of the brutality of slavery. Gordon served the Union troops as a guide, and on one expedition was taken prisoner by the rebels, who, infuriated beyond measure, tied him up and beat him, leaving him for dead. He survived, however, and once more made his escape to Union lines. Gordon soon afterwards enlisted in a Colored Troops Civil War unit, and was said to have fought bravely in the Union assault on Port Hudson in May 1863, the first time that African-American soldiers played a leading role in an assault.[3] The Atlantic's editor-in-chief James Bennet noted "Part of the incredible power of this image I think is the dignity of that man. He's posing. His expression is almost indifferent. I just find that remarkable. He's basically saying, 'This is a fact.'"[4]

via wikipedia

True

For me it's to tell the world I have keloid. 

image via observando

Keeping your mind off keloid

It's always in the back of my mind that I have a keloid on my shoulder. A lot of times when I go about my normal daily life, I still think about it. Mainly because the itchyness keeps coming back and it's almost like a constant reminder. Like hello I'm here! If this happens on a bad day, it can really bring you down. If you have keloid you know exactly what am I talking about.

There are a few things I find helpful and keeps my mind off this annoying keloid a little bit.
1. I use Cica-Care. I always talk about this product and I have posted how I use it. It really physically helps me get through my daily life. I don't feel itchy most of the days. I can move. I can workout. I can wear cashmere or wool without feeling itchy.

2. I don't keep any clothes I can't wear. I mean things that would not cover my keloid or things that make me feel subconscious. I would get rid of it.

3. I like to spend time learning stuff or do something that advance my career. I see this as a long term investment. Having a keloid equal to having an investment that keep losing money. The feeling of uncertianly is what gets me depressed. The only way to counter this is to make a good investment. Something you certainly enjoy. Something that would keep on growing overtime and no one can take that away from me. Am I making any sense?

4. I just work really hard. I'm a graphic designer so working long hours is very normal for me. I find working and designing something pretty are quite therapeutic. Even when I don't work I look at pictures and some inspirations for my personal projects. I love home decor. I took on a huge home renovation recently and that kept me busy for a year!

What about you. What's your experience?

Can you get chicken pox even if vaccinated?

On unrelated topic, the answer is yes. It happened to me a couple years ago. I got vaccinated when I was in my teen since I didn't have chicken pox when I was a kid and to avoid ugly scars. My mom thinks it would be worse in adult. I had complete set of shots, a second booster and everything. But I still caught chicken pox from my coworker when I was in my 30s. How weird is that. On a good side the rash was really small and there were only a few big ones. I didn't keloid from any of those. What's your experience?

Does steroid injection effect your hormone?

I thought of this because from my personal observation. I find that whenever I have an injection, my period is either missing, late or I have spotted in between periods. I asked my doctor he said that very unlikely since the amount of injection on my is really small. My liver with processed it right away and it won't stay in my body for long enough to even effect my system. What do you think? Does anyone have experienced this? Anyone?

Good read

I came across this inspirational story on thoughtcatalog. I do agree with Vicky, if steroid doesn't work the first time use stronger steroid!

Taking a break from injection | how I use silicone sheet

I been taking a break for awhile because I don't see any immedient spread on my keloid. In the mean time, I still keep the silicone sheet on my keloid otherwise it would spread like crazy and itch like crazy. I thought I should share step by step of how I apply Cica-care on my keloid. I would be uploading a better photo on my Keloid Timeline later. These taken on my camera phone. I apologize for poor quality.

 

You can see it is summer and I have tan line around the keloid. I been avoiding sun exposure. And been using Cica-Care religiously. It's better not getting keloid tanned. Not only it would tan darker than your skin, but also it's really hard to undo the tanned. You would have to wait years or use laser to lighten the color.

Here is the silicone sheet I bought awhile ago. When you buy this, it comes in a big sheet. It runs about $50 a sheet. You can get this easily on Amazon. The price isn't really that bad. One sheet can last me for a year. I prefer Cica-Care brand because it's thicker and more effective than other pharmacy brands. It has a nice thickness to it which can hold up the skin around the scar really well. And once you tape it up it gives some pressure on the scar. You don't wanna use the ones that are too thin and stretchy.

You can cut this up to size. I cut this up with clean scissors. You wanna make sure that it's bigger than your keloid and it covers the skin around it. It's better that you go generous on this than to be too small. My problem area is mostly on top, so I just make sure I have some extra coverage on that area. You want it to be like a second skin. This would not work on a keloid that are too raised.  

Then you wanna press it down starting from one side. Make sure there's no air bubbles between the skin and the silicone sheet. 

I tape this up with waterproof bandages I bought from CVS. The reason why I use these because they are the thinnest out of all the bandages. And they sticks to my skin really well. I have tried medical tapes, they are not very sticky enough for me. The tape tend to come off when I move my shoulder. They also gives me rash. You have to find different things and see what works best for you.   

I make sure that the bandages cover the edges of the silicon. This is imporatant for 2 reasons. 

1) This way you can get a good pressure from all sides. 2) Is to protect the silicone from getting dirty. When it has dust or lint from clothing on, it loses the ability to stick. You can re use this silicone for a month if you take care of it well.

Then I added 2 more on top and the bottom. 

And it's done! 

To clean it up

I peel it off when I take a shower and soak it in alcohol. Rub the sticky sides against each other so dust and dirt comes off. Try not to use hand because oil from our hands can make it lose stickiness. Wait until it completely dry (dry your skin as well.) If it's not dry it would not stick. Don't put any lotion or cream on the keloid when you use silicone sheet. You will need to stock up a lot of alcohol since you will be washing it daily or even twice a day. You wanna keep it clean to prevent and rash.

How long until you see the result?

I can only say from my experience. The itch stops almost imediently. It's like when your keloid really itch, you press your warm palm on it and it gives you that comfort. That how it feels. There's really no magic when it comes to keloid. Don't expect to see your keloid flatten over night. Gives it at least 5 months. You will start to see the color changes. It would be less red, less inflamed.