VICTORY OVER PSORIASIS – MY TESTIMONY
25 Oct 2022
By Pat Holmes
At aged 8 years the symptoms of a skin condition appeared – red, dry, itchy, cracking patches which slowly increased in size and spread over 90% of my body including my scalp. It was diagnosed as eczema and then psoriasis. I recall that we kids rubbing ointment on red patches on my father’s back without having heard of a diagnosis. It was, however, confined to his back. This pointed to a bloodline curse which needed to be broken.
Through the years I put my head on my mother’s lap while she lifted the scales off my scalp with a comb and rubbed in coal tar in heb preparation. I remained an outpatient of the provincial hospitals. At age 30+ my skin became severe and I was hospitalised on 2 occasions for a 2 week period each time for treatment with dithranol. I experienced relief but flare ups followed.
My dress attire was conservative – closed necks, long sleeves and pants as people would stare and not understand. My bodily movements were at times restrictive as my skin would crack and bleed. I would respond to severe itching at night with scratching leading to bleeding and rawness of the skin. Silvery scales scattered on my shoulders, falling hair, painful arthritis in one finger, medical aid which did not recognise psoriasis as a chronic condition, were all part of my humiliation.
The dermatologists at the time quite coarsely broke the news that there is no cure and that I would have to live with it for the rest of my life. It was a very harsh sentence passed down to a child with her whole life ahead of her. It was a psychologically numbing experience. Though there were periods of relief, the threat of a flare up was always so intimidating.
It was the culmination of this psychologically and physically impairing experience of 25+ years long that I could no longer live with the sadness of this heart wrenching, debilitating skin disease. A significant day dawned for me whereby I knelt in surrender to my Lord and saviour Jesus Christ and told him that I could no longer live with the disease and the quality of life it encompassed and I asked Him to heal me or take me eternally home. My footsteps were ordered to PUVA treatment over a period of time. The psoriasis never returned except for my nails and scalp as I did not regrettably shave my hair to expose it to the light treatment.
Today I am still trusting the Lord for the complete healing of my nails and scalp and hair fall. My nails remained pitted until during lockdown when I was boosting my immune system with vitamin D3 & zinc that I witnessed my nails growing out healthy.
I do believe that when we come to the end of ourselves, the opportunity arises for the supernatural to take place. My faith remains powerfully in place and prayer is my constant companion. I am asked the question as to why I received a permanent healing with PUVA as the norm is that psoriasis returns after a while. My answer is, the Lord chose to heal my skin as I put my faith and trust in Him.