ORIGIN STORY – ALEXIS

My name is Alexis and I’m a 17-year-old female from St. Johns, Newfoundland. This is my HS Origin Story. 

My HS symptoms began when I was 13-years-old and I discovered the first HS spot in my armpit. I was very lucky that right away I grew concerned and told my mother, and she booked an appointment with my doctor. My family doctor suspected that it was HS and sent me to a dermatologist to get further confirmation. 

I was later diagnosed with early stage 1 HS. From what I hear it is very rare to have a doctor diagnose you so fast, and for this reason I am very thankful!

Currently, my HS treatment plan is taking antibiotics to control my HS flare-ups. I find the main trigger for my HS flare-ups is stress. To help lower the amount of flare-ups I get, I try my best to reduce the amount of stress in my life.

In my life, HS has impacted my studies in school. When it comes to my education I can get stressed very easily. Because the main trigger of my flare-ups is stress, I flare-up more around the beginning of the school year, or before a big test or my final exams. I just started my first year in online college so it is a little tricky to keep my stress under control right now. 

My main way of trying to stay positive is being around the ones I love and talking about any problems I may be having. I’ve discussed my condition with quite a few people. The reason I do it is because I know that discussing my situation could help someone else and/or spread awareness. Everyone I’ve talked to about my condition has reacted very positively, which really did surprise me. The first time I told my friends, I was so scared they would look at it as “gross”, but they all made sure to let me know that they are here for me wheneverI need them.

My HS Hero is my mother. She helps me in any way she can to make me feel better. She always makes sure I am taking my medication when I have a flare-up because I usually forget. I love my mom, and I know I can always tell her about any flare-up I have or talk to her about anything.

A positive experience I’ve had related to HS happened in 2019. I met a wonderful group of fellow HS patients who are the board members of HS Heroes. These wonderful people really made me feel so much better, they showed me that I was not alone and they taught me so much about HS that I never knew before. I really recommend getting in contact with others who have this condition. You are not alone.