Gabby
by Janet

Gabby used to rub the skin by her nose when she sucked her thumb as an infant and toddler.  She developed a pea-size white spot in that area which never caused us any distress.  It wasn’t until she had “The Great Scooter Accident” and had two large abrasions on one leg that we thought something wasn’t right.  Her skin color never returned to those two spots.  It didn’t seem to bother her much at the time, but as a pediatric nurse, but I knew it wasn’t normal for her skin not to repigment.  Shortly thereafter, a dermatologist diagnosed her with vitiligo and we started using steroid cream on those areas.  The spots on her leg did eventually repigment, but then there were other areas on her legs that lost color and a spot near the hairline that became depigmented.  Now, almost five years later Gabby has lost much of her original color and we have chosen not to treat her until a treatment comes along which my husband and I feel comfortable with and she chooses to do. 

We have seen three board certified dermatologists since this all started.   They were compassionate and helpful but did not have much to offer in view of Gabby’s age.  In my travels I know that physicians go into medicine to help patients and they are very frustrated when they cannot help to resolve a condition such as this.   The more information we found on vitiligo, the more we felt we needed in order to decide what if any treatment we were comfortable with.  

I found the AVRF website and thought it was very helpful.  In the summer of 2003 we had a chance meeting with Stella, the AVRF President in the lobby of a hotel in Washington DC while we were on vacation.  She was very gracious and tender with Gabrielle and gave her an AVRF calendar, which she poured over that day and still treasures.  That may have been the turning point in many ways for Gabby.  She felt she was not alone and became anxious to meet other kids that have vitiligo as well. 

 Dealing with vitiligo successfully as an individual or family involves educating yourself and those around you.  When Gabby’s vitiligo started to progress we began educating friends, family and those at school who were in a position to support her.  This was very helpful to everyone involved.  I also made an offer to Gabby to give an educational session to her class if she wished me to do so.   So far she has not taken me up on it due in part because of her own strength in dealing with this issue.  It is very important to be open about vitiligo because most people who have never seen it think it is a burn or some other skin injury.  We have all heard how cruel children can be to each other.  They can also be very compassionate, caring and understanding.  This has been the response Gabby has experienced at school.  She is a beautiful young lady inside and out. 

While attending a picnic with friends we met a physician with vitiligo who was born in Mexico.  He related some of his life experience to us about growing up with vitiligo including his parent’s efforts to conceal his depigmentation and said that he would have been so much happier had his family simply accepted things as they were.  My husband and I have kept his personal wisdom in mind as we live our daily lives and raise our beautiful daughter. 

After five years of life with vitiligo I have embraced her “sweet spots” as part of who my daughter is.  It is part of the little girl that I love.  Both Gabby and her little sister Christina are very compassionate young girls, and Christina gets upset when she sees someone staring at her sister.  She is learning something valuable from this experience also. 

We cannot always choose the challenges we face in our lives, but we can choose how we cope with them.  Our current priority is maintaining healthy skin by protecting it from the sun and keeping a positive mental outlook.  Gabby has asked me if her skin color will ever come back.  I told her I didn’t know but there are new discoveries all the time.  At this time Gabby is taking good care of her skin and will be ready to take advantage of a new treatment in the future if she wishes.

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