'Getting Her Life Back': GA Woman To Get Skin Treatment In Thailand

CARTERSVILLE, GA — Cartersville native Natalie Merchant just wants to reclaim her life.

Merchant, a 20-year-old who was diagnosed with eczema as a newborn, developed topical steroid withdrawal through the years. She was given over-the-counter hydrocortisone ointment to treat her eczema; however, her skin became addicted to the cream for healing and caused lingering effects.

From childhood to adulthood, Merchant's skin would flare up into dry, flaky skin and became reliant on an ointment until one day when her body stopped responding to the cream. Her skin had become immune to hydrocortisone and it no longer worked. She had developed TSW.

"You get so dry that no amount of moisturizer ever helps," she told Patch Thursday.

Life with TSW

Living with TSW can feel cold as the body goes through shivers, unable to self-regulate. Showers are excruciating. The nerves are affected, and the body is sensitive to textures. The skin thins. Comfort is at a loss. Weight can be lost as the appetite declines.

An itch that may be surface level for someone else is skin deep for Merchant. So deep, that she sometimes causes herself to bleed as she scratches to try to satisfy the itch.

"It was heartbreaking just knowing that everyday tasks that some people take for granted, she was struggling and in pain to do," Matthew Wright, Merchant's fiance, said. "Natalie has such a beautiful soul, and she’s the happiest person you would meet in a room. She’s the sunbeam to people’s worlds that she meets."

After Merchant permanently stopped using the hydrocortisone in August 2017, her skin would go through flares on and off until December 2022 when she faced her most severe and current flare.

She has been bedridden and near a heating source for the last three months, trying to cope with her flaky skin. She said she has become immobilized and is now on medical leave from her job as a retail team lead.

When she was working, she would be full of bandages. This prompted questions from customers about her TSW but she remained positive.

She would tell them, "You can never control your circumstances, but you can control your attitude. ... I absolutely believe that my attitude is a choice."

Merchant has chosen to be optimistic about her skin condition, standing on the premise that it is okay to feel sad and hopeless.

" (A) positive mindset expedites healing," she said.

She is able to mostly care for herself but needs the assistance of Wright, her mother and her sister. They aid her in performing daily activities such as helping her to grab items off of the floor if she is reaching for them or helping her to brush her hair since the TSW affects her scalp.

Wright boosts her confidence when she begins to feel insecure, he said.

"I love her with all of my heart and knowing that someone who is so kind and so compassionate (can) be so low was heartbreaking," Wright said. " ... It breaks my heart. Seeing Natalie go through this, it’s been rough."

Plane Ride to Healing

Merchant said her chance at permanent healing is only a plane ride away. She has started a GoFundMe to help fundraise for an upcoming trip to Thailand, where she will undergo cold atmospheric plasma.

She and Wright will get married on April 3 and leave for Thailand two days later.

"When I had to leave work in December because of this, I went through what was probably the darkest time I have ever had to endure in my life," she wrote on the GoFundMe. "I continued to worsen and became so depressed. There were days it was so bad, I couldn’t get off the sofa. ... The depression, lack of motivation, hopelessness and self-neglect were real and heavy!"

Getting the CAP treatment could be life-changing for her, she said.

During the treatment, Merchant said ionized gas will be drawn all over her body through a pen that will feed the gas into her skin. She will begin having treatment sessions weekly, and the treatment will be given six months to one year.

She said there are no side effects to CAP, and it is only offered in Singapore, the United Kingdom and Thailand.

"The therapy causes the skin to rejuvenate and renew itself at an expediate rate," Merchant said. "... It feels like a dream come true."

The money she raises through the GoFundMe will go toward the cost of living expenses in Thailand, where she and Wright will live for a year. As of early Friday afternoon, she raised more than $15,000 of her $30,000 goal.

Merchant said she is shocked at the support she has received. She said she feels as if she can now conquer the world.

"My cup is overflowing," she said. "I feel like I’m on top of the world from all of the comments I’ve been getting from people."

Wright said he has been overjoyed at the chances of Merchant getting back her life. His nickname for Merchant is "my inspiration."

"It has been such a joy and a light to know that in as little as a few months that she can just go outside and enjoy a beautiful day," Wright said.

Merchant, who said she would feel like there was no escape from TSW in the past, now sees a glimpse of hope.

She is not nervous but is rather feeling confident and excited after having grown through the stages of grief with her TSW.

Patch asked Merchant what she was mostly looking forward to after her CAP treatment.

"Everything," she said. " ... I have never had normal skin, (...) never not had to use moisturizer. ... The idea to just be literally sounds impossible. ... I look forward to smile with confidence knowing that I can just be. ... Nothing will be holding me back."

As for how she feels about having Wright's support, she said she is loved beyond words.

Merchant said she is overwhelmed and drowning in the love she has received through her GoFundMe. She thanked anyone who has donated.

"It really means the world," she said.

Patch is a GoFundMe promotional partner.