Hi Readers,
My name is Nana Sakyiabea, I am the proud mother of the founder of Nzema Appolo. I was asked to write about my experience of raising a baby/ child who had chronic eczema. The truth is, it wasn’t only the eczema I was dealing with but all of her allergies, which was very strange to me.
I was born and raised in Ghana and had 3 children in Ghana before moving to the UK, where I met my daughters father. I had a romanticised view of what it would be like to live in the UK. You know a lot of us back home have an idea of the UK being a much superior place than where we are coming from so I did not anticipate the experiences that I had.
When my daughter was born, all of my other children came to the UK and we lived in London. By the time my daughter was 2 she was showing signs of eczema - but I didn’t know what it was at the time. I just thought it was a rash but I couldn’t really place why it was there and I didn’t place much emphasis on it.
It was only when she got to the age of 3 and I realised that it wasn’t going but rather progressively getting worse, that I decided to take it to the doctors. This is when they told me it was eczema and that it can be caused by an environment being ‘too clean’, in the sense that I was using a lot of bleach and dettol around the home. I don’t recall the science of it but apparently that was the reason.
I was prescribed some white cream to apply and that was it. But the eczema got worse over the years. By the time my daughter was 8 years old, she was on oilatum to use in the bath and on her 4th or 5th different skin cream.
Feelings of a Parent
Honestly I was overwhelmed and confused by what was happening with my daughters skin and felt at a loss. Nothing I was doing or nothing the doctor was prescribing was helping and in my mind, I am in the UK, if the doctors cannot help then who can? I felt helpless, I would look at my daughter and feel sad, and not to mention life was happening, you know, other things were going on in my life that I had to take care of and it was a lot. I was a young mother in her 30’s to 4 children, married, in a foreign country trying to do better for myself and this one challenge just threw me off.
I tried not to express my frustrations or sadness to my daughter but I know she could see and hear it from me sometimes.
The Allergies
By the time my daughter was 8 I had noticed, every time we would go to a family party (which was every weekend in those days), she at some point would flare up, be itching, her eyes would go red and I would say she would go like a ‘monster’. Her transformation was incredible and unexplainable. I eventually took her to the doctors again, and that is when I learned she had a peanut allergy. Within the Ghanaian culinary experience - peanuts are a staple and we eat as part of our soups and also as a snack - my daughter was over-exposed to it at parties and home and it made me sad how I was hurting her and didn’t know. The crazy part is that her nut allergy was not only based on consumption but even the smell and peanut powder.
Following her nut allergy, I learned she was also allergic to grass and dust. My daughter was also bed wetting, which further irritated her eczema on a daily basis.
Then the Steroids...
By the time my daughter was 11, the doctor had prescribed steroid ointment as nothing else was working and the eczema was still flaring up and getting worse. When she started the steroid ointment, we saw a drastic change, the eczema had calmed down, there was no more flaring up and her skin began to be very smooth. I was so happy, but then what I started to notice was that her skin started to get lighter and within a year, she had stretch marks at the back of her legs.
I couldn’t quite figure out if I had a better deal here, and I was worried what was happening to her skin. When I went back to the doctor they mentioned that the steroid ointment could not be used long term as it would thin the skin and basically cause harm.
By the time she was 16, the doctor advised that my daughter underwent trial and error with different products to see what can work for her. After 14 years of this journey, it was disheartening to learn that there was nothing more the doctor could do and my daughter would have to live with this for the rest of her life.
It was at this point I realised I had to just accept it. I would always feel sorry for my daughter but, she was living her life. She was doing well in school, she was athletic, she was popular - I wanted more for her but I really had nothing to more to offer.
In her 20’s...
By the time my daughter reached her mid-20’s she was using dove as her body wash which helped her tremendously, eczema was still present.
Early 30’s she was in Ghana and started using unrefined raw shea butter and that is when the transformation occurred. I was surprised that after all these years thats all it took. It was under my nose all this while. I felt happy for her but also realised how, I never looked at what my home country could offer as I thought the UK was more advanced, it was definitely a lesson learned.
Today I am happy for my daughter and proud that she has embarked on this business to empower and heal people, as it is important. I am glad that our story will help others and Nzema Appolo products will help heal people. I pray for us to continue to connect back with nature which is good for us. I think we should start with nature and work from there when we have any ailments, moving forward.