Put All Your Money in Hydrocortisone Stock Now

In keeping with my "over-sharing of my medical conditions and history" - let me tell you what is going on with my Quasimodo-esque life.

(I would like to point out that I am fully aware that the only people who will find this interesting is my mother and Nina. Sorry to the rest of you.)

I have always had really dry skin in the winter. I mean, I know people say they have dry skin, but I don't see them lathering up in olive oil every night so their skin doesn't crack and bleed the next day - which is what I do. Then, in the morning, I put sunscreen on my exposed parts, olive oil on my legs, and out the door I go. Yes, in case you were wondering - the answer is YES - I am a very greasy mess pretty much all of winter. If I know Chicago is heading towards really cold weather (single digits and below) I will put olive oil on my face as well.

Recently, and it hasn't even been cold here yet, I have been getting blisters on my hands around my joints, and along the sides of my fingers. There were a couple at first, which I attributed to the fact that I am a clumsy, clumsy girl and I probably burned my hand and didn't realize it.

Then I started to spread. Last week, pretty much every finger had a blister (or 15) on it. Then the blisters dried, and then started to flake and peel. Then my hands got really dry. Then the blisters started to reappear. I started slathering my hands in olive oil and putting on my gloves before bed. That seemed to do it. But, seeing as I live with Eric and his whole M-O is to get me to go to the doctor, I finally hauled my ass to the dermatologist. I found out I have dyshidrosis dermatitis.

By GOLLY this year has been GREAT!

The dermatologist told me to take a vacation (it's linked to stress. Yeehaw,) and get some hydrocortisone with aloe. So that is what I did.

I have never tried hydrocortisone before. THIS STUFF IS GREAT. And it doesn't smell like I thought it would. Can I just get a tub of this and slather THIS on my legs every night? I mean, it can't much more expensive than extra virgin olive oil, right?

So yeah, I am slathering this on my hands, concentrating on where my blisters are coming in yet again. I have to say, this has been a really weird year for me medically. If my left arm just dropped off of me in the middle of the night, I would be only slightly surprised. On the plus side - it would mean more hydrocortisone for righty!