It's the New Leprosy I do a lot of work with psoriasis and one of the challenges is getting people to understand that it can be a really serious problem. People joke about the heartbreak of psoriasis, but when it's all over your body and you can't even get a haircut, or go to a picnic, or leave your house, it's a life-altering problem.

My clients keep telling us we're not making it sound dramatic enough. So they put their heads together and came up with a more compelling phrase: "a modern-day leprosy." We thought that was . . . a little over the top. We said no dermatologist would go along with that. But they persisted.

Fortunately, I was scheduled to meet with a top researcher. So I gave it a test run with him.

Me: You know, we've really been trying to tell the story of how serious this disease can be.
Dr. M: Yes, that's so important. The comorbidities, obesity, cardiovascular disease . . .
Me: Yes, well, I've even heard it referred to as, oh, something like "a modern-day leprosy."
[His eyes light up.] Dr. M: Are you familiar with the John Updike? The American writer?
Me [Not sure where this is going]: Yes . . .
Dr. M.: He had psoriasis. He wrote an autobiographical story about it. It was called, "Journal of a Leper."

Score one for the client. I told everyone about it and said I'd see if we could find the story.

Today I checked the book out of the library. (My favorite library ever, the Sulzer Library up in Lincoln Square, which is so great it's even open on Sundays.) It's so old the hardcover price was $10.00. As in, it was published before prices ended in 99. Its 15 pages include breasts and erections and the Hancock tower and Art and false, codependent love, in addition to psoriasis. I was going to copy the story and pass it around my office and the client, but now I'm not so sure. 

¶ 9:13 PM