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I am more than just skin. About 5 years ago, I battled with mental ill health. I found myself in a place of darkness. Depression.

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I am not able to tell anyone much about years fourteen and fifteen of my life. Well, not in the way you’d assume.

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I was a junior in college as I sat in the tiny exam room at my doctor’s office desperate to find the cause of the collection of boils that lived under my arm.

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She was only eleven years old. She sat in the backseat of her mom’s minivan, embarrassed and sniffling back the tears. She never missed volleyball practice, but today the pain wasexcruciating.

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I remember walking out of the Dermatologist’s office, confused and holding a piece of paper with information and advice on it. One thing on it stood out to me. It was the recommendation of joining support groups.

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I have experienced chronic pain since I can remember. Thankfully, my story isn’t about how I wondered what was wrong for ages, I had worried parents and was diagnosed early.

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As I sit here today, I have been diagnosed with Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS) and can honestly say I have never been happier.

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Picture this: You wake up one day with a bump in your underarm that’s swollen to the size of a golf ball, sending searing nerve pain down your arm. Spider bite? Ingrown hair? This was my reality.