In a podcast that went online this week, our board member Cathelijn Bax-Luijten talks candidly about her experiences with vitiligo.

Cathelijn (32) contributed to a podcast in the series It could be your neighbor, for which radio makers Zegert van der Linde and Martine van der Spek talk every month with a 'very ordinary person with a special story'. She tells how she discovered her first spot as a teenager and how the dermatologist finally said: 'This is vitligo, you have to learn to live with it, it's bad for you'. And how much impact it had on her at the time. 'I hid myself. Even though it was 40 degrees outside, I was wearing long pants. Gym was hell because you had to change…terrible.'

'Reverse Raccoon'
Today Cathelijn is doing better. She hides the white spots around her eyes ('I'm like a raccoon in reverse') with make-up, and that makes her feel better. She explains how she slowly but surely learned to be more relaxed about it. Listen to the entire podcast of approximately 15 minutes. Cathelijn participated in this to raise awareness of vitiligo.

Listen to the whole thing podcast with Cathelijn (about 15 minutes).

The podcast It could be your neighbor can also be listened to via Spotify and iTunes.