My Vitiligo Story: Part 5-Home Treatment and My Goals for the Future

However, when the COVID-19 pandemic started, my parents started exploring new options to continue the treatment but without going to the doctor’s office twice a week. This resulted in my doctor prescribing a home treatment phototherapy unit called the DermaPal. Instead of using a huge unit for my treatment, I started treating my spots with the smaller DermaPal machine. This was a lot more convenient for me, and it didn’t result in a lot of blisters on my skin. Even now, I am continuing to use the DermaPal twice a week, which has shown results with repigmentation, without applying additional topical creams. Even though I continue the treatment and the repigmentation is slow, I am no longer overwhelmed by my vitiligo. I am happy with the progress that I have made in dealing with my experiences and emotions over the past three years of my vitiligo journey. Most importantly, I want to help other kids with vitiligo feel accepted and loved. I want to share my own ups and downs through this difficult journey and how my attitude helped me reckon with and, ultimately, triumph over my vitiligo. I hope to accomplish this by documenting and sharing my experiences through this blog and becoming a member of VITFriends, a non-profit organization which aims to raise awareness, offer education about vitiligo, inspire hope in those dealing with their vitiligo, and promote a sense of unity and community among those with vitiligo. I am also researching summer internship programs for vitiligo research. Through these actions, I want to make a change in the world and help not only myself, but also others love themselves.