I'm not sure if anyone has read my blog yet. How do you get people to read a blog? I write for a living, so I could figure this out, but I don't feel like it just yet. I'm not quite ready for a lot of attention yet. But it would be nice to get a few comments.

An April 20 NPR story by Allison Aubrey covers a study on the use of botox to prevent excessive sweating in teens. I've explored this option with my dermatologist, and he said that first we must prove to the medical insurance companies that Drysol (now it has a different name, Hypercare) doesn't work for me. If I were to pay out of pocket, it would cost $2,400 to treat just my hands for 3-6 months. I feel like I can live with the sweat. But it's so easy to slip back into habits I developed as a teenager to hide my condition. If I found a medical cure for the sweat, would I feel normal in social situations? Probably not right away, but it would be a big help.

I saw a newspaper story about a teen leadership program. There was a picture of happy teenagers learning to dance with partners. If I had been a teen in that room, I would have fled. There was no way I would let someone hold my sweaty hands. Sometimes they used to get so sweaty I see drip marks on the ground, or wet marks on my cuffs. Nor would I have let anyone see my anxiety. I would have pretended that the event or the people didn't matter to me, that I had better things to do. When deep down, I needed so much to feel closer to others.

If anyone is reading this...what do you do to hide your hyperhidrosis?