There have been a few developments at my end. The first one is that I am in the process of setting up a support group for the families of children suffering from moderate to severe eczema in Mumbai. Support groups play a very important role by not only alleviating the pain and suffering of patients of various medical conditions across the world but also by providing emotional support to their care givers (in this case parents).

I know firsthand what the impact of having a child with severe eczema is on a family who is dealing with this chronic condition on a daily basis. The parents (usually the mother in most cases) deal with the emotional and physical stress of managing their child’s eczema apart from the rigours of administering medicines and the long drawn (usually) moisturising and bathing routine of a child with eczema. Also, a lot of times the doctors are not in a position to give as much time as is required by some parents to understand properly how to manage their child’s daily moisturising, bathing routine which is critical in these cases and also to explain the other lifestyle and other changes required to keep eczema under control.

The objective of the support group is to thus fill this gap and make sure the parents are well informed about the same. Infact, parents themselves are able to come up with various suggestions, information at times of what has worked in managing and improving their child’s eczema which can benefit another child.

Also, sometimes it just helps to talk to someone else who is going through the same rigours of dealing with their child’s eczema as only someone who is in a similar situation is truly able to understand what the other is really going through.

The first meeting has been tentatively scheduled as per the details given below-
Planet Godrej
30 K K Marg,
Close to saatrasta
Mahalaxmi, Mumbai 400011
Date: 28th July, Monday
Time: 10 am

Incase you are interested in attending the same or any of our future meetings, please do get in touch with me. My email id is- eczemaanindianperspective@gmail.com.

The second development is a talk I had given at a forum which was an unique patient oriented meeting organised by IADVL SIG Pediatric Dermatology (Indian Association of Dermatologists, Venereologists and Leprologists) at Wadia Hospital, Parel on 22nd June 2014. The CASE meeting was attended by around 35 persons that included practising and teaching dermatologists, dermatology and pediatrics residents, and caregivers of Atopic Dermatitis patients.

My part in the same was on the topic “Our life with eczema- a family perspective” and captured our experience of dealing with our daughter’s severe eczema over the past few years.

The link to my talk is on youtube as given below-

Our life with eczema: A family perspective-  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF17Cj1raAc

There you will also find the other videos on the talks given by the other doctors and the parent of another child with Atopic Dermatitis on various topics like “Eczema? Why me? How do I cope? – Dr. Manish K. Shah”; Coping with eczema everyday– Dr. Rajesh Jadhav; Eczema treatment highs and lows- Dr. Rui Fernandez; Infections and eczema- Dr. Manjyot Gautam; Wet wraps for eczema- Dr. Amrita Talwar; Overcoming eczema: It’s not impossible- Mrs Unnikrishnan. 

My endeavour is to increase awareness about this condition in my country as well as help other children and their families deal with Atopic Dermatitis. The formation of the support group, my blog and sharing my family’s experience in relevant forums are baby steps towards that goal.

Given below are some words that I keep close to my heart and which says it all-

“Some of the most comforting words in the universe are “me too.” That moment when you find out that your struggle is also someone else’s struggle and that you’re not alone fighting that same battle.”