Instead of freaking out, he comforted me and said that everyone has something they have to deal with.
This is just your thing, he reassured me.
I have battled with Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS) for the last five years.
At times, HS has consumed my life and my self-confidence has plummeted as a result.
Then, a few years back, I met someone special.
How do you explain HS to someone totally unfamiliar with it?
God & Man
Would he ever truly understand?
Would he be okay with my scars and the incisions Id need to get in intimate areas?
For a while, I avoided breaking the news altogether.
God & Man
Eventually, however, I decided that I couldnt let a skin disease take over my life.
I couldnt let HS get in the way of a great relationship.
That he would get freaked out and dump me.
If that happened, I realized, he wasnt the right guy for me anyway.
Sure, I was apprehensive.
But HS is a part of me and I knew it always would be.
For starters, I revealed my underarm.
Wow, thats so cool, he said.
Can I touch it?
I was massively relieved, but also confused.
How could he be so okay with something I thought of as downright ugly?
Overall, I considered it a lucky thing that he wasnt freaked out…yet.
I explained that the same condition that caused my previous scars had led me to the doctor yet again.
In response, he insisted on visiting me at the hospital.
That was the first time I showed him an abscess.
He said it couldve been a lot worse and that I was lucky to have good care.
He tried to be there the best he could without being intrusive.
After the surgery, I showed him my dressing.
At that point, I think he realized just how much the disease affected me.
HS is no longer just my issue, its our adventure!
