Our journal of learning about and living with Lichen Sclerosus from a patient's point of view. Bringing community and awareness to a disorder that hardly anyone knows about. Join me as I research Lichen Sclerosus from every angle and share my struggles living with it. My hope is to build a community of survivors so we can affect change in our lives and the research.
Entering Our Lichen Planus Era: Diagnostic Blurs, Hidden Triggers, and New Hope with Dr. Erin Foster
Host Kathy interviews mucosal specialist Dr. Erin Foster about Lichen Planus, exploring its diagnostic challenges, hidden triggers, and new treatment hope.
7 May 2026TRANSCRIPT
Finding Hope When the Road Isn't Straight
If you’ve disclosed your LS to someone and they brushed it off, that isn’t on you—it’s on them. Because when you share this, you are giving them a gift.
In this crossover episode, Kathy joins Penny Petersson from the Pelvic Power Podcast for a conversation that goes far beyond medical facts. They dive into the "juicy" reality of living with LS: the sting of medical gaslighting, the fear of being vulnerable with a new partner, and the exhaustion of trying to coordinate your own care when doctors won't talk to each other.
Kathy and Penny discuss why community is the antidote to the "isolated" feeling of a new diagnosis and how to find the "diamonds in the sh*t" even during a flare.
In This Episode, We Discuss:
The "Special" Connection: Why opening up about your vulvar health is an act of courage and how to handle people who don't treat that vulnerability with the care it deserves.
Medical Gaslighting: The reality of being dismissed by providers and the specific research being done right now to help patients fight back.
Taming the Beast: Why your diagnosis today is not your destiny in six months, and how to "keep moving" so you don't get stuck in the cycle of inflammation and stress.
Practice Makes Progress: Why Kathy is bringing role-playing and advocacy scripts to this year's summit (because being a "baddie" takes practice).
Resources & Links:
Connect with Penny Petersson
Follow Penny for pelvic yoga and pain management: @wellbeingbypenny on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/wellbeing.by.penny/)
Listen to more of the Pelvic Power Podcast on your favorite platform.
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5L5EST5vW5qbgcEhLfvqLD (https://open.spotify.com/show/5L5EST5vW5qbgcEhLfvqLD)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWZ9pZYm7r8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWZ9pZYm7r8)
Take the Next Step with LSSN
WHS 2026 (May 11–15): If this conversation hit home, join us for the Wholistic Healing Summit. We have specific sessions on Medical Gaslighting Scripts and Advocacy Breakout Rooms to help you practice the conversations we talked about today.
Choose Your Pass: From the Free Pass to the All-Access Pass (which includes the lifetime "LS Wikipedia" library Kathy mentioned), find the level of support you need. 👉 Register for the Summit Here (https://lssupportnetwork.org/whs) https://lssupportnetwork.org/whs (https://lssupportnetwork.org/whs)
Join the Community
LS Warriors: Our private, recurring donor community for those who want to skip the "late-night search spiral" and get straight to expert-backed answers. 👉 Become a Warrior (https://lssupportnetwork.org/membership) https://lssupportnetwork.org/membership (https://lssupportnetwork.org/membership)
Give yourself reliable guidance: Join the summit and stop guessing about your care. https://lssupportnetwork.org/whs (https://lssupportnetwork.org/whs)
9 Jun 2025
Reclaim Your Pleasure: Get Your Sexy Back with VLS!
Shauna, a somatic sex educator, guides listeners on reclaiming intimacy while living with vulvar lichen sclerosus, focusing on self-discovery and sexual rebirth in a supportive workshop setting.
Inside a recent episode
Entering Our Lichen Planus Era: Diagnostic Blurs, Hidden Triggers, and New Hope with Dr. Erin Foster
Published 19 Jun 2026 · Transcript excerpt
[…] Yeah. So on your skin and on your scalp, those are... So LPP of the scalp is lichen planopilaris. Pilaris means hair. LP of the skin, there's lots of different kinds. Lichen planis of the scalp can be really... really traumatizing because it is a scarring hair loss. And so when people have inflammation of their scalp, it's usually in the front or right on the center of their head and they'll have a burning feeling. They'll have sometimes a scaly rash and then they lose their hair, but then the hair follicles scar down so they can't make new hair. And so a lot of people, once they've lost their hair for like implantopilaris, it doesn't grow back. […]
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