In January, 2023, TLLC partnered with Lichen Sclerosus Support Network (LSSN). This means my new 2023 blog posts will be published on LSSN’s page. For full details on what the partnership entails, watch this video.
Do you feel alone and isolated because of your Lichen Sclerosus? Do you want to share with others that you have Lichen Sclerosus but have no idea where to start? In this post, I share some of the pros and cons associated with telling others about LS, and provide tips and tricks for how to start the conversation, if and when you are ready.
Read the latest contribution to The Grief Project by a fellow LS warrior, Louise. Louise is an incredibly gifted writer and takes us through her journey of grief, sadness, and growth.
In this post, I want to focus on a more abstract aspect of mental health that you may struggle with. It is an aspect that is harder to articulate than anger or fear, but it is incredibly important to discuss, nonetheless. That is, I will be discussing expectations about progress with Lichen Sclerosus. If you’ve ever found yourself saying, “why am I not better yet”, “why isn’t this working”, “other people seem to get relief faster, why am I still in pain”, “I feel better physically, but the mental effects of this disease are still tearing me apart and I know I should be better by now”, etc., then this post is definitely for you.
My first post about fear highlighted various fears you can experience after getting diagnosed with and processing a Lichen Sclerosus diagnosis. Some of those fears included fears about relationships and sex, fears about developing vulvar cancer, and fear of the unknown. You can read about this here. In my follow-up piece, I discussed fears relating to sex and current/future relationships and provide some practical advice (checklist-style) to help lower the volume of those fears, read that piece here. In today’s post, I tackle the fear of developing vulvar cancer and the fear of the unknown. The main theme with this post and last week’s post is the power of education and how empowering ourselves can help ease our worries and fears.
This post focuses on the fear surrounding relationships and sex. Part two explores the physical fears a Lichen Sclerosus diagnosis can bring up, like the fear of developing vulvar cancer.
This week on The Grief Project we have Jen, a fellow LS warrior, who will be discussing her journey with grief from Lichen Sclerosus, a traumatic birthing experience, and episiotomy scar endometriosis. Jen is one hell of a woman, she has faced some serious hardships and beat them all.
In this post, I highlight some of the fears you may experience. I end with a call to normalize having these fears and all of the emotions we feel. In my next post, I provide practical suggestions for managing your fears with Lichen Sclerosus. Importantly, this advice is given in a way that doesn’t invalidate or attempt to completely eliminate how you feel.
Today, I want to touch on another aspect of mental health that often accompanies living with Lichen Sclerosus: that is, grief. Grief is a multifaceted feeling and can present itself in several different ways. In this post, I will discuss how grief can manifest and why grief is normal when you have Lichen Sclerosus.
This blog post will focus on the anger and frustration I felt because of the modifications I had to incorporate into my life for the sake of my mental health and wellbeing.
This will be a two-part blog piece. I began by describing my exercise routine until the point where I received a diagnosis and how I reacted afterward. In my next post, I explain what I learned about exercise and Lichen Sclerosus, and how I brought back one of the things I love most: exercise.
Be sure to subscribe to The Lost Labia Chronicles newsletter so that you are notified about new blog posts, videos, and exciting announcements.