This week’s guest, Christine Macdonald was diagnosed with a skin disease (at age 14) that left her face severely scarred physically and emotionally. Her self esteem plummeted, which lead to a stripping career and drug addiction. Now drug free, she openly shares her story on her blog, in her books and on Kirsty TV. Click here to watch our interview.
Christine suffered from Grade 4 Acne Vulgaris – “Cystic Acne” – mostly cysts, but also nodules and pustules covering over 80% of her face, upper back, inner thighs and chest. Most were purple, filled with blood and would break open on her pillow when she slept. She would wake up to a blood stained pillow often.
The cysts varied in size, but most were a little smaller than a golf ball. The ones near her temples (next to her eyes) would effect her peripheral vision.
In 1982, she was one of the first patients to take the new drug (at the time), Accutane. She was a case study and was subject to medical students accompanying her doctor upon discovery of her case.
After years of living with the cysts, the Accutane did start to work, but she had already formed deep, “crater” scars over most of her face.
She had a total of 9 surgeries to help soften these scars. The photos in this album are from he 4th and 5th surgeries in her early 20’s. She had her first 3 surgeries starting at age 16.
As a girl or woman, I think all of us at some stage have felt not pretty enough or wanted to change something about the way we look. Christine’s story taught me that we don’t all get a choice and that we don’t all have control over that. For Christine, it was a skin disorder, for others it can be as simple as aging and weight gain or as severe as being a burn victim. So life happens and therefore, it’s absolutely imperative that your happiness is not based on the external and that you LOVE YOURSELF for who you are.
Stay tuned to www.KirstyTV.com for more exclusive and inspiring interviews. We will be sharing inspirational stories from our interviews with everyday people, celebrities and experts every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.