Chad's Story

Chad is a very dear patient of FFP’s who suffers from a very rare disease called Trichoepithelioma. This genetic disease causes the body to grow cysts at an alarming rate. In Chad’s case, large cysts emerge across his face. Chad is a 33 year old man and has suffered from Trichoepithelioma for most of his life. He came to Dr. Finn through a wonderful banding-together of doctors wanting to help Chad and get him in the right hands. Dr. Finn has performed many procedures such as cyst removal, dermaplaning, and scar revisions on Chad — all pro bono. The results have been remarkable, but the transformation Chad underwent is even more amazing. He first came to us barely able to hold his head up and look anyone in the eye and had been going through life this way for a very long time. Now, he smiles ear to ear and holds his head up with pride!

Although Chad has seen incredible improvements in his skin, the cysts continuously regenerate. Dr. Kenneth Becker decided the best treatment would be to put Chad on Accutane, a drug commonly used to treat severe acne, to stop the rapid growth of the cysts. The cost of generic Accutane is roughly $400 a month, an expense Chad can not afford. We contacted the manufacturers of the drug to see if they could help in any way, but they could not. We spoke with the friendly pharmacists and neighbors at Kerr Drug in East 54, and they gave us the contact information for the Kerr Drug Corporate office. They were very touched by Chad’s story and wanted to help in any way possible. They agreed to sell Chad the generic Accutane at cost. Chad, his family, and all of FFP were elated to hear the news! However, even at cost, the drug is still a high expense for Chad and his family. Thankfully, we have been able to use donations to the FINN Foundation from many of our wonderful patients and the community at large to help him with this expense. Chad’s results never cease to amaze us. We hope everyone who hears Chad’s story will be inspired and want to help contribute to the cost of his medications so he can get ahead of this disease and live his life to the fullest!

While his story is uplifting, Chad suffered much hardship growing up with this disease. He faced discrimination when trying to find a job due to his appearance. This process has been very difficult for him, and he speaks about it in the interview linked below with Caitlin Coyner that aired on ABC on July 19, 2012.