Have you tried coconut oil?
Man.
You know how many times I heard that?
It drove me more insane than my skin.
Yes, TSW is awful.
But there’s one thing that makes it really hard.
The loneliness.
People not understanding what we were going through.
The world passing by, while our lives were on hold for months, years.
Friends and family would ask, “What’s wrong with Bren?”
“His skin’s bad.”
“He’s got eczema.”
“I think he’s got allergies.”
Seriously.
I wrote in our Facebook support group once that the group had literally saved my life.
It was true.
The only thing worse than fighting an impossible fight – is having to do it alone.
Having people fight alongside me, understanding the pain each day, sharing war stories.
I don’t know if I would have made it otherwise.
Naturally, I spent a lot of time in that group.
I wrote posts about each setback, each triumph, every tough day, every good one.
One day, I was writing a post that was getting long and thought to myself, yeesh, this could almost fill a whole book.
That’s when the idea for Iron Skin was born.
One thing I’ve learned over a career as a writer:
There is inifinite power in our stories.
They can heal wounds, bring joy, mend relationships, save lives.
Writing Iron Skin was violently emotional for me, and I gave up multiple times during the two years of putting it onto paper.
But I knew it had to be written, for you, for all of you had fought alongside me, and those who would inevitably come after me.
Iron Skin is my story, but I hope it can become all of our stories, that people can pick it up in the depths of their journey and take comfort in knowing someone has walked before them.
I hope you will read it, love it, share it, gift it, and find some inspiration within it that will pave your path to healing.
With all of my love and gratitude,
Bren