Ruby.
I am Alicia Bridges. I was diagnosed with crisis at seven years old, and it took me a little over two decades to find an effective treatment. I remember when I was younger, I had very flaky, dry knees and elbows, but we just thought that I had really dry skin. At my entire body was covered with itchy, flaky, brown, crusty patches of dry and flamed skin. It cracked, it bled, It sometimes felt like my body was being attacked by ants.
And my grandmother took me to the doctor. They surveyed my skin and determined that I had sarries.
Alicia tried every treatment possible, topicals, oral medicines, even a tar treatment, but nothing brought more than temporary relief. The frustration began to take a toll.
I just remember being like, I'm going to have this condition for the rest of my life and there's nothing that I can do about it.
I stopped going to the doctor, I stopped.
Trying to find treatments, and I said in that for about two years.
Even with the shame and discouragement, Alicia bravely shared her story speaking at National Soriasis Foundation events across the country. It was at these events that she eventually connected with doctor Wiseman, who would finally bring her the life changing relief she had been searching for.
And so there was an event in Atlanta, Georgia, a National Soriasis event, and I went, I can't even remember what the event was about, but I do remember meaning doctor wise.
So we started having a conversation and.
She was like, I can get you cleared up, and so I set up an appointment with her. She surveyed my skin. Of course, She's like, you have a very severe case of plexiasis, but I have this biologic and so she gave me my first biologic and it cleared me up about eighty percent. And let me tell you, I was as happy as can be.
Welcome to House Calls. I'm Lauren Bray Pacheco. On these special segments, we'll check in with friends from former Symptomatic episodes for updates on their health and lives since we last connected. Alicia, it is so good to speak with you again.
It's nice to speak with you as well. It's been a little while.
I can't believe it's almost been a year. November of last year when we first connected. Yeah, and I have to tell you your episode is one that many people reference when they talk about the courage of someone coming forward and being so honest and open about their struggles with their health. Have you had any kind of reaction of people who listen to the episode.
You know, I had some family check in with me and kind of be like, Wow, I didn't know you know what you were dealing with internally, So that was nice to hear.
You talked a lot about how for you really finding self acceptance was a big part of this puzzle piece, and I love the fact that you came to that realization before you even found what ended up being for you the silver bullet. Why was that something that you knew you had to heal before your skin even did.
Because I think that self esteem and confidence and self worth are universal themes that you really have to own in and focus on in your life outside of chronic illnesses. It's just so imperative to have that love for you in confidence for your self day to day, regardless if I have psoriasis or not. Because if it's not poriasis, then it's the pressures of social media. If it's not the pressures of social media, then it's the pressures of
beauty standards. If it's not that, it's dating and expectations. So that's why it was really important for me to get a hold on that.
I think that there is something, particularly when you're dealing with the chronic illness that has physical manifestations, you have the insecurity constantly that you're going to be judged or rejected because of your physicality, And when it's something that you can't help and you're desperately trying to conceal, it probably just feels like you're in fight and flight constantly. Every social situation becomes an opportunity for rejection as opposed to just an opportunity.
Yeah, it's interesting because in the last year I've been reflecting on why I feel anxiety. Didn't even realize this, but I think I have some social anxiety.
I do stand up comedy, which is kind of hard.
To have social anxiety when you're in stand up and oftentimes, especially in the beginning, like I would be so afraid to like get on stage, even like having successful shows. And then as I evaluated that, I realized that it's social anxiety. I realize that I have a real fear of being judged, not only being judged, but being shamed. And being rejected, and then I did some further evaluation,
like Okay, where does that come from? And I really think that it comes from being tall all my life, like since I was seven, always being tall, always standing out, and having soariasis. It's like always this dark cloud of like here is an opportunity for someone to reject you, to shame you, Here's an opportunity where you might show
up and be perceived as not good enough. So that definitely has been a challenge, and I often wonder how much of the sooriasis is associated with how I view anxiety and overwhelm.
Now, it is so interesting to see the way in which your disease, like your lack of ease within your own skin, shaped not only your personality but gave you courage. Stand up comedy is terrifying to most people. To put yourself out there and to let people judge you in that moment, with laughter or not. It's very interesting that this is what you're drawn to. What was it about stand up comedy that called to you.
I've always been like this fun, witty personality in general, which again probably stems from having the risis, because you have to connect in a way with people that have nothing to do with your looks because you're afraid that your looks won't be good enough. So I've learned to kind of be caresmatic and to understand how to connect
with people in a meaningful, authentic, and deep way. I went to see a friend years ago perform comedy, and as everyone was coming across the stage, I was like, I can do that.
I can definitely do that.
You know, I've done public speaking and people have told me that I have this personality. So I just started to do it and it challenged me and continues to challenge me to confront not feeling good enough or fearing that I'm not going to be perceived in the way that I want to be perceived. And one thing about comedy is like it's up and down, Like, for example, I did a show the other day and the audience was just not my demographic and it we're not feeling my stuff.
And in that moment, you can perceive that as rejection.
Like it gets real awkward when you're up there giving the best ten minutes of your life and people are staring back at you like, uh, what is this?
Yeah, those ten minutes can feel like ten years.
Oh my gosh, I'm telling you. But it's so funny because five years ago that would have caused me to like want to quit comedy. And when it happened, I was just like, Okay, let's push through these feelings. This is only ten minutes. This is not going to make or break my career. The circumstances that this is an older crowd that's really out of my demographic and if I want to make them laugh, either I have to come up with jokes that fit their lifestyle or I need to stick to my demographic.
But that's the solution to it.
It's no reason to feel shame, it's no reason to be embarrassed. It's just identifying what the circumstances are and being okay with that, Like this is a part of the process, and so it's really helping me to kind of confront all perspectives of my life in that same way.
That's where the self love comes in as well, because you don't place your value in terms of the acceptance of others.
Yes, one thousand percent, you said that in such a beautiful way, and it just sparked a fire in me when you said that is really about not putting your value in the hands of other people, whether it's a comedy audience, whether it's a man that I'm dating, whether it's a person at the nail shop that doesn't understand psoriasis and they reject me, whether it's not being chosen.
For I don't know, a modeling gig or whatever.
It's just understanding my value without it being contingent upon what other people think of me.
And so, how are you doing today, because I believe you said you started your last treatment in twenty twenty.
Is it still working.
It's still working. Well, it's working great. I'm one hundred percent clear. The challenge now is that I recently lost my job or quit my job, and now I'm worried about insurance and ensuring that I can continue receiving my medicine. Luckily, I only have to get the treatment every twelve weeks, so that gives me some time to get a new position so I can continue my medicine. But this is just another example of like, even though the psoriasis is clear,
there's still always some challenges because of this disease. Because now the challenge is finding insurance, ensuring that that insurance covers my treatment, and just going through the whole process again of a copay program and prior authorization, So it just feels like there's always something even when things are going good.
Yeah, because there's maintenance involved. It's not as if it was a one and done kind of deal.
Exactly.
Have you had the opportunity to pay that forward in terms of your advocacy. Have you had the chance to really see the comfort that sharing your story has brought to other young people.
Absolutely.
People often write me on social media and let me know, you know, oh, I saw an article, I heard you on the podcast, and it really touched my spirit. I also volunteer at Camp Discovery, which is a camp sponsor by the AAD American Academy of Dermatology, and it's for kids who are living with skin diseases. But it's such a blessing to work with those kids from a place that I know exactly what it is that they're going through when they're out in the world trying to navigate
their skin conditions. So it's such a blessing to be able to connect with them in such a meaningful, productive way.
So I am always.
Encountered by people in different situations as to how my story has influenced and impact them to try to live and overcome their condition.
And to bring them comfort and the reassurance that they don't have to feel shame or blame themselves exactly. So, Alicia, what is next on your list of things to tackle?
I'm always looking for a new adventure.
I recently bought a violin because it's something that I did when I was like ten years old, but I didn't get a chance to continue it. So that's one way I'm currently trying to honor my inner child is by teaching myself how to play the violin.
I'm really into plants.
I've become a plant mom in the last couple of years.
Actually wrote a book.
It's called Dig Deeper, a twenty one week Guide to Self Discovery through Plants. And in the book, I talk about my journey with psoriasis as well as having parents with substance abuse issues, and I talk about how I've learned the process of growth through caring for my plants. So like just doing more of that, connecting with people and plant care and just finding new ways to challenge myself.
So, yeah, that's what's going on with me right now.
Oh my gosh, I'm getting that book I'm not joking. I'm going to write it down because I'm a serial plant killer unfortunately. Yes, Alicia, I just want to thank you so much for taking the time to update us, and I'm so happy that you're doing so well and I cannot wait to follow what you next take on in the years to come.
I really appreciate it, and thank you for having me here today. This is great catching.
Up absolutely on next week's episode of Symptomatic, Mick Zaison didn't think much of her severe acne and early onset periods at first, assuming they would pass on their own, but her symptoms quickly escalated to frequent UTIs, bladder pain and bloody urination, upending her entire life.
All of my blood tests are perfectly fine, all my CT scans are perfectly fine. And I was at a loss, like, am I really just making this up? I'm looking down in the toilet and I'm seeing red and no one's helping me.
This has been house calls. Thanks for listening, and we would love to hear from you too. You can email us at Symptomatic at iHeartMedia dot com with thoughts about other episodes or to share a medical mystery of your own. Until next time, be well,