It’s been a while since I’ve written here. Our lives took a challenging turn at the beginning of the year. My father-in-law, Donald Croup, fell and broke his elbow in late January. That set off a series of health downturns including a heart attack, a urinary tract infection, and the loss of mobility. Complications around dementia took his life on May 3rd. His memorial site on Forever Missed can be found here. As Dad’s primary caregivers, Lori, an only child, and I took numerous flights down to Southern California from Sacramento airport. The stress of traveling that much began to wear on me. W ..read more

The “clever” Thanksgiving advertisement by FanDuel caught my attention immediately. It wasn’t because I love to watch sports or that I bet on games (I don’t). Rather, their stating of the odds of a family member mentioning their psoriasis at the family gathering felt off-putting as someone who has lived with it for most of my life. Screenshot of a FanDuel advertisement on November 24, 2022 taken on my IPhone. I appreciate how the National Psoriasis Foundation (NPF) responded with this FaceBook post and debated until now whether to share my thoughts. But I feel I still need to. As of today I ha ..read more

One hour before my appointment at CVS pharmacy I felt deeply unsure about getting my COVID-19 booster. (Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com) I knew I wanted my annual flu shot. But I couldn’t decide on whether I really wanted to get another COVID vaccination. To help make my decision I messaged my dermatologist the day before. I waited for the email notification that she had responded to my request for her medical advice. As of the time I left for CVS I had yet to hear back from her, but felt that she would say go ahead since we talked about getting boosted earlier in the yea ..read more

Photo by Sagui Andrea on Pexels.com Last month I posted a column on Everyday Health titled How the Power of Prayer Helps Me Face My Psoriasis. I shared questions I had as a young adult with psoriasis who recently found the Christian faith: Is it selfish to pray for yourself when the world has real problems? Is it possible to know if a spiritual practice like prayer can be a healing force in the face of a chronic condition like psoriasis? Am I wasting my energy praying if my health doesn’t improve? You can read more about my thoughts on these questions in the column. Here I would ..read more

April 7, 2021. In line at the Woodland Community and Senior Center to receive the first Moderna vaccine dose. The moment the needle plunged into my left arm I began to feel anxious and lightheaded. My doctors encouraged me to get the first COVID-19 vaccine available to me. That day came on April 7th. I felt reluctant to get vaccinated for fear that my skin conditions psoriasis and eczema might flare. But getting COVID-19 sounded much worse, so I relented. Once the needle came out of my arm I knew I could not go back. I wrote on my Everyday Health blog that I don’t like needles. I can tolerate ..read more

On March 19, 2020 California Governor Newsom announced a statewide stay-at-home order. Here is a screenshot from my phone: Recently both the county and state extended the lockdown to May 1st. With the president and governors talking about opening up the economy again, there is hope this lockdown will end soon.  Until then, Lori and I plan to post a weekly journal updated every day or two to mark thoughts, reflections, and news related to life sheltering-at-home. This is week 5 of the lockdown. Wednesday, April 22, 2020 Cooking Together (Lori) I have been longing for Howard and I to cook ..read more

Lori and I visited Universal Orlando City Walk during the InterVarsity National Staff Conference in early January, 2020.A big happy Valentine’s Day to my wife of over 25 years, Lori. I’m grateful for not just the quarter century together, but more importantly all the ways we’ve grown personally and relationally since those early days of college. I shared about how we met on my Everyday Health The Itch to Beat Psoriasis column titled, “How Psoriasis Helped Me Meet My Wife.” An excerpt from the top of the column expresses how connecting through sharing about my psoriasis and her spina bifida ..read more

I can’t believe I finished my third week of taking Skyrizi (Risankizumab). In the coming week I take my second dose. This dose is a loading dose administered at week four. The dosing moves into every twelve weeks thereafter. The biggest questions I have when I take a new medication are if it will work, when it will start working, and will I have side effects. See below for my updated impressions on these three questions. Will Skyrizi Work to Clear My Psoriasis? This is a crystal ball question to be determined in the coming weeks. But if you make me give an answer of what I predict I’l ..read more