Just Julia: A Short Story About Eczema

By Cara Ward

'I just need one day of not being in this body.'
Julia Ross is a twenty-something woman (barely) living with eczema.
Julia Ross has been told not to scratch.
Julia Ross has been told to use coconut oil.
Julia Ross has been told it's never going to get better.
Julia Ross has come to the end.
Can Julia Ross reclaim her identity from her skin or has she finally given up?
Based on the author's own experience with eczema, this short story hits home on exactly what it's like to live with a condition most people believe is only skin deep.
From the author of Curing my Incurable Eczema.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cara Ward
• Release date: Dec 4, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223176114

Book preview

JUST JULIA: A SHORT STORY ABOUT ECZEMA

CARA WARD

Copyright © 2019 by Cara Ward

All rights reserved.

This is a work of fiction.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

BOOKS BY CARA WARD

FICTION

Thirty-Minute Tales

WEIGHTING TO LIVE SERIES

Weighting to Live

Changes

Sixteen Months

Plus Uno

STANDALONE SHORT STORIES

Just Julia: A short story about eczema

Knock Down Ginger

NON-FICTION

Curing my Incurable Eczema

Stuff I’ll Tell You To Do That I Won’t Do Myself

My Date with a Shaver

CONTENTS

Author’s Note

Just Julia: A short story about eczema

Two years later

A little note from the author to anyone who has a loved one, friend or colleague with a skin condition

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Other books by Cara Ward

Curing my Incurable Eczema

Stuff I’ll Tell You To Do That I Won’t Do Myself

My Date with a Shaver

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Dear reader,

This short story focusses on the reality of living with a chronic skin condition which some readers might find distressing and potentially even a trigger.

This was not written by a medical professional, and any information in this short story is not intended as medical advice. It was written by someone who suffered from eczema (or what I thought was eczema…) for over twenty-five years before finding topical steroid withdrawal and ending up with no skin condition, and so whilst I do not have a medical degree, this is my experience that has been exaggerated to highlight how I feel skin conditions like eczema are regarded within the medical community and by others; as if it is something that only happens on the surface, which couldn’t be further from the truth. Skin conditions have the ability of affecting you not only physically, but mentally, too, and that doesn’t make you weak – it simply means you are human.

Eczema is an enigma, and so little is known about the best treatment for it, and whilst some *might* (important word there) benefit from a radical diet change, others won’t. For some, the answer *might* lie in alternative medicine. For others it