Student, 18, baffles medics with untreatable painful skin condition

2022-08-17

Student, 18, baffles medics with untreatable painful skin condition that causes her face to bruise from within

Nancy Morel developed a seemingly innocuous pimple on lip when she was 13
She has spent last five years visiting hospitals and doctors but to no avail
And the student says she didn’t have any underlying health conditions before

An 18-year-old student who has an untreatable skin condition that causes her face to bruise from within has left medics baffled.

Nancy Morel from Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, developed a seemingly innocuous pimple on her lip when she was 13 which was initially thought to be an allergic reaction.

But the pimple soon swelled into a large and painful bruise which then began spreading all over her body.

She has spent the last five years visiting hospitals and doctors being misdiagnosed with urticarial vasculitis, receiving multiple skin biopsies and steroid injections but nothing has helped.

Nancy, whose twin sister Tilly doesn’t share her mystery skin condition, had no underlying health conditions before her initial flare up.

Nancy Morel from Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, developed a seemingly innocuous pimple on her lip when she was 13 which was initially thought to be an allergic reaction

Nancy, whose twin sister Tilly doesn’t share her mystery skin condition, had no underlying health conditions before her initial flare up

‘When I was thirteen all of my skin problems started, but before that I had no prior health conditions so it was a real shock,’ said Nancy.

‘I also have a twin sister and she has never experienced it, she has no skin conditions.

‘I was in school and my lip started swelling up out of nowhere, it was completely random and the school nurse said it meant I was allergic to ibuprofen.

‘They thought I had taken ibuprofen in school which I hadn’t but they did not believe me because of the reaction.

‘They took me to the hospital and they told me it wasn’t an allergic reaction, they told me to just go home and monitor it, the swelling stayed and this bruise appeared on my lip for a few days.

‘After that initial reaction it spread to my legs, my feet, my stomach, my face and now it is just all over me quite a lot of the time.’

Nancy (pictured before her illness started), whose twin sister Tilly doesn’t share her mystery skin condition, had no underlying health conditions before her initial flare up

‘When I was thirteen all of my skin problems started, but before that I had no prior health conditions so it was a real shock,’ said Nancy

Nancy is able to preempt the flare-ups before they start because she begins feeling nauseous and light headed and the pain in her face starts building but there is very little she can do to stop them or to help manage the pain.

‘I can tell when it is going to happen probably a few hours before, mainly because I start feeling really sick and light-headed,’ said Nancy.

‘It is almost an instinct I have now I know when it is going to come up. It is really really painful, especially on the different parts of my skin, my face is probably the most painful.

‘The best way I can describe the pain is when you are at the end of having pins and needles and you get that sharp stabbing pain coupled with a throbbing bruising pain at the same time.

‘There isn’t much I can do when it flares up, nothing really works.’

Urticarial vasculitis is a rare form of vasculitis characterised by inflammation of small blood vessels and low levels of proteins in the blood. It causes recurrent episodes of hives and painful skin lesions that itch or burn.

Unfortunately following years of treatment the doctors retracted this diagnosis and Nancy was in the dark once again.

‘For three years I was going to the hospital under the guise of having that diagnosis but then after they had been treating me for three years and kept testing my skin it wasn’t behaving like urticarial vasculitis,’ said Nancy

‘It didn’t look like how that skin condition looks so then they undiagnosed me with that and I stopped going to the hospital at that point.

‘I had spent the last three years going to the hospital three or four times a week, they had put me on steroid injections all for them to turn round and tell me that wasn’t what I had.

‘I can tell when it is going to happen probably a few hours before, mainly because I start feeling really sick and light-headed,’ said Nancy

‘It was extremely deflating, I was 16 at the time and they basically told me there was nothing they could do to investigate it more until I was 18.

‘I am 18 now, but I don’t want to go down the hospital route again because it was all just too much on me emotionally.

‘I have seen a few doctors here and there since I was 16 and still none of them have any idea what it is so I want to know more about it myself. I don’t want to go back to having my life filled with hospital appointments.

‘I would rather just deal with it on my own.’

Nancy isn’t able to wear makeup to cover her bruises because they are too painful and she says she has learned to love what makes her unique.

‘It is really hard to feel confident being who you are but since I have grown up with it i have learnt that it can actually make you more confident,’ said Nancy.

‘Sometimes someone might look at you when you are walking down the street but try not to think of it as them looking at you in a bad light, they are looking at you because you look different, you look unique.

‘It is a really amazing thing to look unique, if you have something that isn’t what a lot of people your age have, or even just something not a lot of people have, take it as a positive and work around it in a positive way.

‘People have told me that they think my skin makes me look really beautiful and it makes them feel special being able to see it.’

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