600 replies to this topic

[FightingTheGoodFight]

If your Doc ever want's to inject a cyst with a shot you should think twice about it because it may cause permanent indentations in your skin. Just a warning because it happened to me.

[Wynne]

Hey Ranger!

Have you read Dan Simmons? I greatly recommend his Hyperion Series. I found I like his work even better than Orson Scott Card's Ender Series. Of course I have many of OS Card's works. And many of Heinlein's and Bradbury, and Niven. I even have some older edition paperbacks from the likes of Niven and Pournelle and Aldiss and Farmer and Piers Anthony and some incredibly interesting stuff from the dawn of SF's first wave. Oh yes, and Asimov. And of course, Douglas Adams. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy had me snorting and laughing until I cried in highschool (all those many years ago).

You have exceptional taste in reading. Kudos to you!

Prednisone is a steroid; it shouldn't be taken too long (more than a week, or however the doc prescribes it). For most users of Accutane, they do not have to stop Accutane while on a short-term course of a steroid. Perhaps he recommended you stop the Accutane, if you were to take the steroid, due to your lab values?

At this point, you should consider a higher dose if your derm concurs. I was on 80mg a day when I weighed 120 pounds. You're on month two, I think. Do not despair, the improvements come slowly and gradually, but for your type of acne they are almost guaranteed to come.

Does your derm have an esthetician on staff? If not, you could ask your derm to consider incising and draining some of your more painful cysts if necessary. Ask if he thinks you need a short term course of antibiotics to combat your initial breakout. I am very glad that your skin is looking better. It was evident in comparing your first set of pictures to your second set that you are having considerable improvement!

Please do moisturize regularly, and make sure you're using a sensitive skin cleanser so as to protect your poor ravaged skin. Remember also to wash with warm water. A final rinse with cold water will help tone down the redness, too.

You are simply a wonderful young man. Keep up your magnificent chronicles and do try to keep up your spirits.

I'm a technical writer, never could I do creative writing. Your skills are impressive.

[RCRanger03]

Come on without Come on within you aint seen nothing like the mighty Wynne. It's a honor.

I will have to add that to my exponentially expanding to-read list lol. I have read Asimov's Foundation series, and a little but not enough Bradbury. Also I have to throw Phillip K Dick in there. Would you count Jules Verne as SF?

Anyways he didn't tell me why i would have to stop taking accutane if i wanted to take the steroid, but if it had been because of my blood work i would have thought that it would have been brought up (sigh Oh Zoltan you mysterious fig)

I do moisturize with Cetaphil after my shower in the morning, and sometimes in the middle of the day if I deem it necessary. At night I've been lately slathering on Aloe gel, and I've been really impressed with the results as it calms my skin so i can sleep easier, and has had a noticeable impact on redness. As for washing I only use water and no cleansers, or OTC products, I've found that they never seem to agree with me. I dont really wash with water either I kinda soak. I fill up the sink with cold water and do bobbing for apples imitation a couple times patting dry in between. When i washed in the traditional way i would always end up wither accidently catching a scab or I would be driven to pick bc of the feeling of my skin under my hands. I dont know if the soaking method works but I've seen favorable results over the last week and a half. I usually take piping hot showers but i rinse with cold water for some odd reason.

I'm glad you see a difference in my pictures, the real difference is how it feels which is much better as everything is becoming less deep seated, but i am disappointed that my beard is being decimated by the jawline cysts that it was meant to cover up. Hopefully those bad boys will make an exit soon so i'll have time to regrow my beard for my annual christmas party (I had planned to have it big and bushy and dye it white for a dedicated St. Nick impression lol)

I have 2 midterms today, but no classes tomorrow so i imagine tomorrow should be a day of many posts for muah.

Quote of the Day

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.

You tell em Mama T

[Wynne]

A gentle antibacterial cleanser might help you with your jawline and beard problem areas. I do highly recommend the Cetaphil soap that's in my signature. It's also mildly moisturizing and oh so gentle.

If you do decide to use it, just splash your face with water (when you're doing the wash that's not in the shower, unless of course you shower twice a day), get some soap on your fingers, gently massage the soap into your skin, splash to rinse (multiple times) and you might begin to feel even better. A gentle touch of a cleanser can make a difference in getting rid of the dried skin cells and the oil that should come off but won't with a soak.

[RCRanger03]

Well bullocks i wish i had read that before i went to the grocery store today. Oh well i have to go back anyways because one of my bags fell through the moment i stepped nto my room and my milk carton Hiroshima-ed on the floor leaving a lake of wasted 2%. Dang you sacker lady who thought 1 paper bag would hold up with cold items on a hot day. Its not like condensation or anything forms ..... Ugh i'm just pissed bc now i cant have Capt. Crunch tomorrow morning.

I've been falling asleep randomly in the middle of the day and i always wake up and my face feels like its covered in dry glue when i wake up. Its an awful feeling and there is nothing really there so im not sure whats causing it.

Whats nice is I have tomorrow off and thats going to be nice. And its only 19 days till basketball season starts!!! I love basketball above all sports I even gave up a promising career on the Central Texas Olympic Development Soccer team for a four year pine riding career on my highschool basketball team. The problem is that i'm in enemy territory here for the NBA being a lifelong Mavs fan. My friends and family are afraid that i'm going to meet bodily harm due to my outspoken Allegence here in Spur Land. Also college basketball which is the lord of all basketball will not be far behind. Its always an exciting time of the year people.

[RCRanger03]

Alright Wynne i snagged me one of those bars and i'll use it from now on. I hope it helps, but im not worried because the source is mighty knowledgable

Short post today I'm dealing with the aftermath of the milk explosion yesterday. The stupid washing machines only accept reloadable "Laundry Cards" which you have to get downstairs, but you can only use $5 bills or above even though i only need $1.50 to wash and dry the load. So i had to drive down to HEB and use the damn coinstar machine to turn all my change into cash.

Quote of the Day

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while DARING GREATLY so that his place shall never be with those timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.

[RCRanger03]

How is everybody this morning .... errr afternoon. Just woke up and had to deal with the FOULEST smelling thing of all time. Following my milk explosion i towelled up the milk intending on washing them immediately, but i got sidetracked. The next day I remembered but they already were pretty damn rank. Still i tried to go get money on my laundry card and needed a $5 so i went to HEB coinstared myself a $5 but the damn laundry card refiller was broken until this morning so I finally got it filled and i took those towels to the washer and and tried to get them in the washer AFAP but when the smell hit me i thought i would faint. It was one of those ones that you can taste. So I filled the whole with Oust, but the door was closed and the amount of oxygen was quickly depleting so then I left gave it a second to catch my breath and the room to regain some oxygen. Then I went back in and tried to toss in som detergent, and was hit with a second blast of what i would expect pure evil to smell like. So then I went back to my room wrapped a shirt around my face, braved opening the lid again and i filled the washer with oust. I let it sit for a while then started it up. I hope it clean it in one load bc im out of underwear and I dont have any more fives.

I've been saying that my face has been getting better everyday and it has in a very noticeable manner, but there is a catch. As my beard has fallen out in some places the full horror of that nasty looking jawline cyst is fully revealed and even i didnt know it was so bad. It has either grown or interconnected with other cysts to epic proportions. Its goes from the corner of my jawbone to touching my chin, and is over an inch at its widest. Its mostly shallow, but the bottom most part is wedged right in the crease where my neck bends and is constantly being aggravated and growing. That all being said its not all that painful, but it kinda looks like a angry red tumor.

Alright I'll let you go back to your day and start steeling my reserve for round 2 with the Aroma of Evil.

Quote of the Day (Its a long poem, but well worth the time to read it all

Dreams of Desire

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dreams
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life's betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your
fingers and toes
without cautioning us to
be careful
be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand on the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
"Yes."

It doesn't interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after a night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the center of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.

[marrieta]

Hey, there. I will be starting my Accutane treatment here in 2 weeks. Wanna prep with all the stuff necessary to make the possible side effects more tolerable.

What Aloe Vera Gel do you use ?

[RCRanger03]

Well I am by no means an expert but here is what i keep in my Acne Attack Drawer:

1) Tub of Cetaphil Cream no fragrance, no color (for during the day moisturizing)
2) Fruit of the Earth 100% Aloe Gel (For going to bed)
3) Bar of Cetaphil Antibacterial Gentle Cleanser (By recomendation of the mighty Wynne)
4) Fish Oil / Green Tea (to deal with inflammation)
5) Vitamin E (for fast skin healing)
6) IB Profen (for dealing with inflammation, aches, and pain)
7) Wooden plaque that says "Veritas Vos Liberabit" that I carved myself (it means the truth will set you free, and it reminds me that the face I see in the mirror isn't who I am)

Thats my acne arsenal. I don't know if its all that great, but it gets me through the day.

So the Horns finally won in conference it feels like its been forever ..... oh yeah it practically has been. Don't get too comfortable you Sooner fans though bc the way this season is shaping up ... the odds are against you.

Acne is trying to go away, and I'm starting to get a good view of the damage. The red spots are bad, but they will fade. The scarring is .... well in most places its non existant, but where it shows it really shows. We'll see how it progresses.

Oh big news i'm starting a song of the week feature. Every Monday I will have a link to a song that has helped me in my acne struggles here. This weeks song is Spoon's "Underdog" . Check it out!

Quote of the Day

If there were ever a time to dare,
to make a difference,
to embark on something worth doing,
it is now.

Not for any grand cause, necessarily-
but for something that tugs at your heart,
something that's your aspiration,
something that's your dream.
You owe it to yourself
to make your days here count.
Have fun.
Dig deep.
Stretch.
Dream big.

[marrieta]

Thanks man, I got the Cetaphil thing going on, I will order the aloe vera here soon.


BTW - San Antonio is beautiful, loved the river walk thingy.

[Brandy]

Don't get too comfortable you Sooner fans though bc the way this season is shaping up ... the odds are against you.

Oh, we're quite comfortable. Thankyouverymuch.

[ClareB]

Gotta love The Underdog

Can't wait to see more progress pics. Sounds like things are looking up!

[RCRanger03]

Overall yes its very positive. The stuff on my jawline isn't giving up without a fight, and with everyday more and more of my concealing beard falls out to reveal it. I started having to wear a beanie to classes bc of my overgrown bangs are gettin way too annoying. I wont give up on the dirty man challenge just yet though. I really wish my mustache would start growing bc after like 4 months its nothing but wispy. I really want to make a startling impression at that christmas party but right now the beard is disappointing.

I was wondering what yall thought about sleep. Is 8 hours 8 hours no matter when you get it. What I'm trying to say is i have a very erratic sleeping pattern depending if I get into a heated online scrabble match (I'm sorta like a scrabble grandmaster in my community) or I can get lost in a book.

My roommate asked me today if I wanted to go to a party this weekend, and i just chuckled and said no thanks. Even if i didn't have painful severe cystic acne I probably wouldn't have gone. I really just don't want to risk my transfer on being at a party that i wouldn't enjoy. Being in my room watching a good movie, reading a good book, or writing up a story by myself is 10X better than a wild party. I've always been that way, its not that i cant thrive in a social situation people from my freshman and sophmore years will be able to tell you that. I just prefer silence, and being alone.

[DH2005]

It took me more than ten weeks of being on 'tane before I felt able to venture out, socially. When I did, I realised that it really helped handling the whole business of taking the drug - it just shakes things up, a bit; it makes me feel like a person, rather than a patient.

Everyone likes to spend some time alone, of course, but the company of others can be good therapy, too.

[RCRanger03]

Actually I'm not really having a hard time with accutane as of yet. I'm abnormally cheery as compared to my post breakout pre accutane self.

As for company, while it fine and all I've never especially needed it to function at my best. In fact my most cherished moments are those when no one was around to see it. When I dream of a perfect life I dream of somewhere out of the way, tucked into a beautiful landscape. Like a bungalow on some unknown beach on the pacific. Some place that I shape with my hands, and put some of myself into it. Where I can write or read all day in a porch rocking chair on Monday, fish off a dock that I built with my own hands on tuesday, and do nothing but daydream until sunday. A place where it doesnt matter what day it is. I dont know if any places like that exist anymore in this world, but I dream of them every night.

Quote of the Day

You have it easily in your power to increase the sum total of this world's happinessnow. How? By giving a few words of sincere appreciation to someone who is lonely or discouraged.

[Brandy]

I like how you think, RCR ^.

[RCRanger03]

Haha thanks Brandy. If you could get inside my head you would be amazed that im able to put coherent sentences together, because everything whizzes around chaoticly (that cant be the right spelling)

OOH OOH I GOT A Wii! I went to walmart on a whim just to check their stock and they were putting them in the showcase as i was walking up. By the time I left they were sold out, so looks like luck is back on my side. I got Super Mario Strikers Charged as well but i'm holding out on playing it till tomorrow after my Social Psychology test otherwise i wouldnt get any studying done.

Quote of the Day

Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round heads in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

[RCRanger03]

I'm dedicating this post to a special reader who nobody here, but me knows. She knows who she is, and I hope you have a slight insight into what I'm dealing with.

Remember that super deep cyst on my neck that I thought was going away. Well its back with avengence and it keeps growing. Along with the super huge stuff right above it on my jawline its looking terrible. I'm seriously considering filling that steroid my derm perscribed me. What do yall think will it help, is there really any downside. Most importantly can I take it with my Sotret bc I really dont want to break on the Tane.

Oh this was wonderful. I went to dinner today, and theres this new guy working the pizza oven couldn't be older than 20. I walk over and he has his back turned and I asked for a couple slices of pepperoni. He response went a little something like this ... "Sure can do man .... HOLY CRAP did you have like an allergic reaction man?" I was like "Nope just acne" and he said "Dude thats totally harsh man I've never seen stuff that bad ... you should get something to clear that up." ........ Ok ........ I'm a VERY nice person and I NEVER yell at anyone even when im fuming mad, but with this stuff on my jawline killing me I just turned to him and said very loudly and angrily "YOU THINK SO JACKASS ... YOU THINK I HAVENT CONSIDERED THAT ... YOU THINK I FUCKING ENJOY LOOKING LIKE THIS" set my plate down and left with the whole cafeteria in complete silence. I'm feeling terrible about it right now because thats totally not the kind of person I am.

Ok I'm going to try and go to sleep. Thanks for reading

Quote of the Day *My last one in the tank, yall have drained me dry lol*

The Waking by Theodore Roethke

I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.

We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.

Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me; so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.

This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.

[kaylaann]

Ive been a lurker for a while and just wanted to share a similar story. Months ago I had been planning a trip to "the river" with my friends for weeks, and a few days before a had a BAD breakout. I went a little overboard with my treatments. Needless to say I woke up the morning of with huge dark rough patches on my skin (When I say huge I mean HUGE dark rough nasty patches of wrinkly skin with deep painful pimples under them). Being the daredevil I am I decided to suck it up and go anyways. Big mistake. When all my friends showed up it seemed like every person asked me "whats wrong with you're face?". Over AND over and over again "whats wrong with you're face?". I thought I was going to lose my mind. Later on I looked in the mirror and noticed the patches were WAY darker than before (from being in the sun) AND they were peeling. The whole day my friends were watching my face fall apart before their very eyes.

Just remember that yeah right now your skin isn't in the best shape, but sooner than you know it you will be clear, but that jerk that just had to point out something you clearly already know, will struggle the rest of his life because of his lack of manners and sensitivity to others. You think that guys going to have luck with women? I know its hard right now because the condition of your skin is changing so rapidly, but there will be a payoff you will see. You are a really good looking guy (no seriously you ARE really cute I have seen all your photos), you are lucky you have amazing bone structure. Things will get better. Just focus on school, relaxing, and being positive.

Have a nice weekend

[RCRanger03]

thanks kaylannn normally I'm super positive and relaxed 99% of the time. I really dont know what got into me yesterday. Also thanks for the compliments lol. I dont really know anything about bone structure so I'll take your word for it.

My rommate had gone home for the weekend so I slept in, and have been watching football all day. I dont have a shirt on, and I havent even messed with washing or moisturizing my face. 10 mins ago I hear a key in the lock and my roommate comes in followed by 3 guys and 2 girls. So here I am sitting in my bed shirtless with pajama bottoms with skin flaking all over my face with my glasses on. I was just saying to myself WTH I thought this was going to be a day where i just didnt have to care, and he decides to come back early with a freakin posse. I felt like a zoo animal the amount of gawking I got. He's gone now, and i'm debating on whether to go through all the trouble of washing cleansing moisturizing.