X- Xanthemia

Now that we are about to embark upon the tanning season are you ready to face all the fake-n-bakes? Or would that be Fakin' Bakes? Yep, both. (I googled!)

Anywhoo...while I was looking for a cool "X" word to write a clever post about, I came across this word:

xanthemia: excess carotene in the blood stream; can cause the skin to turn a pale yellow-red color.

It reminded me of a past experience.

In his lifetime my father-in-law had suffered with a condition called spastic (or Spasmodic) dysphonia.

Spasmodic dysphonia is a voice disorder characterized by involuntary movements or spasms of one or more muscles of the larynx (vocal folds or voice box) during speech.

In adductor spasmodic dysphonia (ADSD), sudden involuntary muscle movements or spasms cause the vocal folds (or vocal cords) to slam together and stiffen. These spasms make it difficult for the vocal folds to vibrate and produce voice. Words are often cut off or difficult to start because of the muscle spasms. Therefore, speech may be choppy and sound similar to stuttering. The voice of an individual with adductor spasmodic dysphonia is commonly described as strained or strangled and full of effort. Surprisingly, the spasms are usually absent while laughing, speaking at a high pitch, or speaking while singing, but singers can experience a loss of range or the inability to produce certain notes of a scale or with projection. Stress, however, often makes the muscle spasms more severe. (wikipedia)

On several occasions Dad went to see a specialist for this disorder and he had some success in it's treatment.  We were all thrilled that he found someone who could help him speak, especially since my father-in-law was a pastor! His voice was his livelihood.

Usually Dad would travel to see the Doc, but one time he said that the Doc would be stopping by the church (where we all worked) so we would be able to meet him. We were all anxious to thank him for taking such good care of Dad. I'm sure we figured it would be interesting to hear how he had become a specialist in this field.  We looked forward to his arrival.

When the Dr. arrived at the church we met in the auditorium. To our surprise we found a man that looked similar to this one -

Seriously!

Now the man in the picture I believe has a Fakin' Bake (spray on tan, maybe?), but our Dr. was orange because he was a carrot juicing fanatic.  He has what we call Xanthemia!  Literally, the man was orange because he juiced/drank so many carrots over a long period of time that it turned his skin orange.

Needless to say, we wished Dad had warned us. Cause what can you do/say when you are faced with an orange man? I think we mumbled some thanks, but in our minds all we could think was, "This man is ORANGE!" Ca-razy, I tell ya. Ca-razy! (Thanks, Joyce, for the spelling!)

While I like myself some fake tan (the lotion in a bottle kind), I try to take a second look before I go out in public so I don't end up looking like the ORANGE man. If I ever do, I hope someone will do more than mumble thanks my way.  Who knew "X" could stand for orange!