The Nationals Setback

    They say a picture tells a thousand words, but sometimes a picture doesn’t share the whole story. While onstage, my tan looked flawless but my skin was in the worst shape it had ever been. Here’s the true behind-the-scenes story of my biggest obstacle leading up to nationals.

    Back in January, I was working with one of our sponsors, a fitness trainer, to prepare for nationals. He had me start taking probiotic supplements while also switching to a gluten-free, sugar-free diet to help build muscle. A few days into the change, my mom noticed hives on my back while zipping my dress. We didn’t think much of it until a week later when I suddenly had hives covering my neck, chest, back and arms. I had never had an allergic reaction or known allergies so I wasn’t sure what was wrong. I immediately stopped the supplements and diet change, hoping my body would return to normal. After a week, nothing had changed. I then tried over-the-counter allergy medication, assuming it would clear the hives but they remained.

    By February, I still had hives. I scheduled a doctor’s appointment but then my doctor caught the flu. Unfortunately, time was of the essence so I had to go to urgent care where I was prescribed steroids. I took the pills for a week and finally, some of my hives started to clear. About two weeks later, I used self-tanner and noticed I still had hives on my arms and stomach. With nationals less than two weeks away, I knew I didn’t have time to wait for them to clear. I ended up back at urgent care where I was given a steroid shot and a topical steroid cream. I thought this had worked—there were no visible spots remaining—but little did I know the issue was far from resolved.

    After getting my spray tan, my skin initially looked normal. But after my first rinse the next day in Tennessee, I found pale white patches on my arms and stomach. My events started that day and competition began the following day so I immediately started panicking. I tried exfoliating the spots, thinking they were caused by dry skin, but even after reapplying tanner, the patches wouldn’t darken past pale white. Katie, my incredible makeup artist, ended up painting over my arms, chest and stomach with makeup to cover the spots. She is the only reason I didn’t look like a speckled alien on the national stage.

    Over spring break, I visited a dermatologist and learned that I have tinea versicolor. Essentially, my skin had started bleaching itself in spots. It had nothing to do with the supplements, diet change or my tan. The good news is that I just have to take two rounds of medication to clear it up. The bad news is that it takes five to six months to heal and can reappear at any time. One thing I learned from this experience is that sometimes you just have to take challenges in stride. Not everything is going to be picture-perfect but you can choose to embrace the imperfections.