Evelyn’s Story

At only 7 years old, Evelyn has recently been diagnosed with psoriasis and is now taking on the challenge of cycling 50 miles throughout August to raise funds for the Psoriasis Association. Her Mum, Heidi, shares her story.

Evelyn is 7 years old and has only been recently diagnosed with psoriasis in July 2024.

In April 2024, Evelyn had a mild case of chickenpox that was checked by a Dr. She also had a ringworm on her leg that we couldn’t seem to shift. Upon her return to activities after the isolation period, Evelyn’s chilblains on her feet flared up and in her dance lesson, the blisters were ripped open. This led to an infection and a broken toe. She then came down with two bouts of tonsillitis very close together, both treated with antibiotics. She had also become stressed at school with various things going on.

By June 2024, Evelyn’s body was exhausted and we started to notice a few clusters of spots on her back. I went to a pharmacy for advice and was told it was a viral rash. After a few days, we noticed what looked like bite marks on the back of Evelyn’s legs. Again, the pharmacist told us they looked like bites and to use the cream we had been given for her previous ringworm. At this point, we tried not to worry, but Evelyn’s body was almost covered. We were then told that she had Pityriasis Rosea and it would go away on it’s own.

Another week later, I insisted she was seen by our GP as Evelyn was consistently scratching, feeling unwell and constantly being stared at which was taking its toll on her mental health. He took one look at her body, now completely covered head to toe, and asked another GP for advice. That’s when she finally got her diagnosis. Both doctors agreed that this was guttate psoriasis, likely to have flared up with the compelte lack of immune system that Evelyn had.

At this point, we were relieved to know what was wrong and could then research what we needed to do to help her. She was prescribed a mild steroid cream and some emollients to help her with the itching and advised to take antihistamines. After a week, we noticed that she was again getting worse, with sores on her scalp and the rash continuing to spread further. Another conversation with the Doctor, some pictures sent to the dermatology team at the hospital and the agreement that the treatment was not helping at all.

Evelyn is now on a huge list of medicines to try and help her including Eumovate ointment for her face, Elocon ointment for her body and a Elocon

lotion for her hair, exorex Coal Tar Solution for her body, plus Epimax for moisturising. She also has a tar shampoo to help her head. She is also now on antibiotics and antihistamines too.

Whilst we know this is the very start of her journey, Evelyn has shown great resilience. She is listening to her body when it is telling her to slow down. We have now got a completely differnet routine that we’ve had to adjust to with having to put multiple creams on 3 times a day, all with time needed in between to allow it to absorb properly – it is time consuming and can be irritating to Evelyn’s skin, She is also becoming really good at telling people what she has, as many people have questioned her as to why she is out with chickenpox / measles. You can see in her face that this often gets her down as she doesn’t like the attention being drawn to her.

Because of this, Evelyn decided she wanted to raise awareness of what Psoriasis is to help people understand what she and others are living with. She wanted to carry out some fundraising to help the Psoriasis Association and so is cycling 50 miles throughout August to raise funds. We are all so proud of Evelyn and everything that she has done, whilst dealing with the psoriasis.

You can donate to Evelyn's fundraiser here.