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Ichthyosis Vulgaris

by John Yeo

  The day that Billy changed his appearance, he began to look like a fish, scaly skin broke out all over his face. The teacher said to him,
“Billy you are in the wrong country! No maybe you are in the wrong pond. Ha Ha!”
Billy blushed, and ran out of the classroom, his teacher apologised for the thoughtless remark and sent him to see the school nurse.
The trouble was no one at the school had ever seen anything like this before. Even the nurse was unsure of what to do for the best, and sent him home.
“You had better see your doctor Billy, I am sure he will know what to do!”
The doctor made an appointment for Billy to see a specialist in six weeks time.
Meanwhile, Billy was bullied and taunted every day, children can be cruel to someone who looks a little different from normal. Fatty Palmer, was the worst,
“Hey Fishface, you have had your chips! Get back into the frying pan!”
Billy cringed with embarrassment and backed away from the crowd, spending more and more time alone.
Stella became friends with him and gave him a lot of support. Stella’s father was a gymnastics teacher and she had learned a lot from him.
Fatty Palmer and his friends gleefully made fun out of the two of them,
“Here comes fish head and the trout, look out gang the freaks are about!”
Stella and Billy walked away together.
“Ignore them Billy,” said Stella, “We will only get into worse trouble.”

Billy went to the hospital and was examined in the skin clinic by a specialist who said.
“I am sorry to say you have a common inherited skin disorder called Ichthyosis Vulgaris, sadly there is no cure, but I can prescribe soothing creams and lotions. The symptoms should disappear in a short time and they may never return, but there is a chance they will come back in later years.”
“Ichthyosis what?”asked Billy’s Mum, “Your Dad had a similar thing on his chest Billy, very mild though.”
“That would be right,” said the consultant.

Some days later, Billy and Stella were walking home. Fatty Palmer and three boys were lying in wait for them, jumping out on the pavement they began jeering and threatening Billy. Stella took one look and went into action with a whirlwind of kicks and punches she brought Fatty down, and broke his arm. The other boys were on the receiving end of some very harsh punishment, before running away smartly.
Billy was astonished, Sella grinned and said. “My Dad is a black belt in Karate and he taught me a lot, I am also a black belt and I will show you how to look after yourself.

Billy and Stella stayed friends, became engaged, and got married. Of course that was ten very happy years ago now.

Copyright (c) Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved

Ichthyosis vulgaris is a skin condition that causes dry, dead skin cells to accumulate in patches on the surface of your skin. It’s also known as “fish scale disease” because the dead skin accumulates in a similar pattern to a fish’s scales. “IMAGE AND INFO FROM THE NET.”