Hi mga GT sis!
Just wanted to seek your advice/support/prayers...
Here's the story po - My daughter when she was about 2 years old (she just turned four this year), developed a white patch near her hairline. As in out of the blue lang, isang araw biglang nagkaron. I'm not sure if it was there na nung baby sya, pero wala kami napansin noon. That time kasi nung 2 sya, medyo mas naging kayumanggi na yung color nya, and she had more hair, so very noticeable na sya. Wala naman anything kakaiba with it, except it was milky white, and yun nga appeared out of nowhere. Nonetheless, I brought her to a regular derma, siguro mga 2 months later (kasi inobserve muna namin yung patch kung magkakaron ng changes etc. since wala, at hindi rin sya nawala pumunta na kami). the derma did a short parang skin test to see if it was fungal - negative. she was saying it's possibly vitiligo, but wasn't conclusive kasi we had to wait and see daw if it will expand or if magkakaron pa ng ibang white patches. In short, hanggang dun lang ang naging usapan (sigh.) So we did the wait and see game, and as the months went on, napansin ko na dun sa area na may white patch sa scalp nya, yung hair na tumubo is white. So ayan, sa may right part ng hair nya is may white hair sya at dahil mahaba at malago na yung hair nya ngayon, mas visible na. Also, I noticed that she developed a small white patch din sa corner ng eye nya. Almost unnoticeable unless you look closely. Pero siempre, my fear is kamag-anak na yun ng white patch nya sa hair.
Sa mga research na ginawa ko sa internet, lalong lumalakas yung kutob ko na this is most likely vitiligo talaga. Aside from the white patches, wala naman akong naoobserve na out of the ordinary sa kanya, development-wise, physically, emotionally, mentally, etc. She's right on track for her age. We will be going to The Medical City tomorrow to see the only pedia-derma accredited ng card namin. It's quite a travel din from Cavite, pero ok na ok lang - we feel na specialist na talaga dapat ang puntahan namin to diagnose her. Our experience with the first derma was inconclusive anyway and parang hindi rin sya masyadong open sa questions namin.
You might ask why did we wait another 2 years to consult a specialist? Sa totoo lang kung ako lang, gusto ko na noon pa. It's hubby na ayaw. Ewan ko kung in denial ba sya or what. And since hindi naman nagsurface any new white spot (until this month) and yung white hair lately lang din naging visible, ngayon ko lang ulit naramdaman yung 'presence' ng possibility na vitiligo sya.
I'm a little scared. Although Vitiligo is not medically dangerous. It manifests sa skin, so aesthetic problem sya talaga - yun nga lang ang setback is psychological talaga. It is not contagious either. (more info here:
http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/skin/vitiligo.html) Kasi yung white patches siempre sa kayumangging skin is very noticeable. Lalo na pag dumami pa sya.
Examples of local personalities na meron is si former priest turned politician Ed Panlilio (taga-Pampanga) and I think yung current DOH assistant secretary din si Enrique Tayag (laging na-feature sa TV for DOH projects). Ang hirap pa, there's really no predicting if it will spread or not, if it will gain back its old color or not, and ang pinakamasakit - there is no guaranteed effective/safe medical treatment. May mga topical creams na inaapply ata (pero may steroids. kinda scary for a kid), pero hindi assurance na hindi magspread.
I'm scared kasi na mabully yung anak ko sa school. I'm scared na baka ma-depress sya. Bumaba yung self-esteem nya. I'm more scared than she is actually...
Pa-advise naman mga sis what to do, how I can help her avoid bullying (or fight it when it happens), and sa akin din personally, how to cope with it?
