Comfortable in My Thick Skin - Lisa Goodman-Helfand

Comfortable In My Thick SkinAfter encountering multiple near-death experiences following her daughter’s birth, Lisa now writes and speaks about facing life’s obstacles with humor and perspective. Her articles have been featured in Cosmopolitan, Elle, Good House Keeping, Woman’s Day, The Huffington Post, and Chicago Parent. Lisa authors the blog, Comfortable in My Thick Skin where she explores motherhood, marriage, body image, and redefining beauty through the eyes of a scleroderma patient. Her memoir, Does This Hospital Gown Come With Sequins? is available on Amazon.
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Untouchable

At our most primal level, we all just want to fit in and be accepted. As a kid with pink and purple broken capillaries (called telangiectasia) sprinkled generously all over my deformed arms and legs, blending in with the crowd was no easy task. I’ve encountered lingering glances…

Lisa Goodman-Helfand

Lisa Goodman-Helfand -- Comfortable in My Thick Skin

Columns

If It Looks Like They Need Help, They Probably Do

Have you ever seen a stranger in distress and wanted to help them, but weren’t sure if it was appropriate? When we see someone on crutches, we know we should make an effort to hold the door open for them, or let them go ahead of us in…

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Life Lessons Learned from a Tightly Sealed Bottle Cap

I think the world would be a far better place if people could do two simple things: Ask for help when they’re in over their heads. Admit when they’re wrong and adjust their behavior accordingly. I’ve lived with scleroderma for more than 32 years and still struggle with swallowing my…

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Asking for a Massage, and Getting a Sad Lesson in Prejudice

I think about skin a lot more than most white people. I know that’s a really weird statement, but it’s true. Because my skin looks so different, I am quite aware that my skin influences how people perceive me. Having been diagnosed with scleroderma at age 10, I’ve grown accustomed to people…

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A Stranger’s Comment Can Reduce Me to Mush

Having lived with scleroderma since I was 10 years old, I’ve grown accustomed to being asked intrusive questions about my appearance by random strangers. I’ve developed a pretty thick skin (pun intended) over the years, but there are still four seemingly innocuous words that continue to hurl me into a…

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Scleroderma Warriors – Toughness That’s More Than Skin Deep

Stretch marks, belly flab, a double C-section scar, dark circles under my eyes for the next 18 years: the postpartum party gifts I was expecting as I was wheeled in for a scheduled C-section in 2006. It wasn’t my first rodeo: I’d had a C-section three years prior and, as…

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Parenting Failure, or Triumph? My Mom’s Deception, Denial, and Devotion

Flower arrangements shaped like ice cream sundaes, new pajamas, stuffed animals, books, bracelets, and countless other trinkets. These are the gifts I remember receiving during the three-day hospital stay that followed my dermatologist’s diagnosis of juvenile scleroderma. But the fun didn’t stop with all the gifts! Oh, no way! My roommate and…

Columns

Fake Warts, New Pajamas, and Four Words that Changed My Life

Editor’s Note: In Lisa Goodman-Helfand’s debut article for her column “Comfortable in My Thick Skin,” she tells her own scleroderma diagnosis story. Her experience with the disease began at age 10, when little was understood about scleroderma. Read about the start of her journey here. We’ve all experienced pivotal moments that are forever…


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