An American physician and his wife visiting Turkey find themselves with their infant experiencing a flare of eczema. In desperation, at the suggestion of his mother-in-law, they visit a Greek Orthodox church to consult a priest with the reputation of a healer. This is a fine piece about faith and illness.
"My 9-month-old son’s first time on a plane — a 10-hour journey from J.F.K. to Istanbul — was a disaster. The dry air of the cabin, the confinement and possibly some allergen on the in-flight menu all contributed to an unprecedented eruption of his eczema. It was demoralizing. His skin had been cracking and inflamed for months, but we had taken such pains with it — daily applications of heavy cream and austere dietary restrictions — in anticipation of introducing him to his relatives in Turkey."
Twenty-five years ago, I saw a similar patient. He was an infant of a service woman who was stationed in Germany, but whose family lived in Hawaii. All the child knew was his crib in Munich. His mother took him from his familiar surroundings, half a world away to Hawaii. By the time they arrived, the child, who previously had had mild to moderate eczema, was experiencing a major flare. It was my feeling that the stress of travel was an important trigger to the eczema's exacderbation. Imagine what an infant must feel when removed from the only surrounding he knows, We seek for physical or microbial trigger -- but sometimes the psyche plays a role as well. Who knows the mind and emotions of a nine month old?